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VII 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



Chap. Copyright No. 

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA^ 



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AN EXPOSITION 



or 



THE CONSTITUTION 



STATE OF IDAHO. 



BY 



CHARLES F\ KOELSCH. 



PUBLISHED BY 
©BO. J. LEWIS, BOISE, IDAHO, 

1899. 



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COPYRIGHT 1899 BY CltABLJlp P. Ko^lkCh- 






PREFACE. 



It will hardly be contended by any one that it would not be 
conducive to better citizenship and better government should 
our State require as a pre-requisite qualification of voters that 
they pass a satisfactory examination on the American system 
of national and State government. 

It is true that such a requisite at this time, might prove a 
hardvship on many, but it is equally true that the most if not 
the only, effectual way of securing that qualification in the 
voters of the State in the future, is by requiring the Constitu- 
tions of the United States and of the State of Idaho to be 
taught in our common schools, and a knowledge of them 
made a pre-requisite qualification of teachers in those schools. 
This is now required by law and that is the reason for the 
appearance of this little book. 

Our State has been admitted into the Union since 1 890, yet 
there is not now extant any book or treatise on the Constitu- 
tion, except a pamphlet printed by the State, containing the 
bare Constitution, with not even an index. 

In preparing this book the author's primary purpose has 
been, not to attempt to answer any fine questions that might 
arise, but to give a concise exposition of our system of State 
government. With this object in view, wherever necessary 
the laws passed by the legislature in pursuance of provisions 
of the Constitution, were resorted to for explanations and 
illustrations; technical terms are explained and reasons for 
many provisions are offered. All outlj#£s and analyses have 
been left out, the author believing^ t*Kat these, when deemed 
necessary, can best be prepared in the class-room. 

Though it is primarily intended as a text book for teachers 
and pupils in the public schools, it may also prove a help to 



4 

those citizens who wish to acquaint themselves with the 
theory of their government* The notes to those sections that 
have been construed by the Supreme Court have been made to 
conform to such construction. This, together with the index, 
may even prove this book a handy volume for the practicing 
lawyer, The author begs the indulgence of a kind public for 
any errors that may appear. The nature of the undertaking 
is such that mistakes might occur under the most painstaking 
care and the soundest judgment. 

The Author, 

Boise, July 17. 1899. 



THE CONSTITUTION 



STATE OF IDAHO. 



THE PREAMBLE. 

We, the people of the State of Idaho, grateful to Almighty God for 
our freedom, to secure its blessings and promote our common welfare, 
do establish this Constitution. 

This enacting clause is plainly modeled after the enacting 
clause of the Constitution of the United States. Though 
called a preamble, it is, strictly speaking, not a preamble but 
an enacting clause. A preamble is an introduction to a stat- 
ute, which gives reasons why such law should be enacted, 
and is no part of the enactment. The introductory sentence 
to this Constitution, on the contrary, commands or directs 
what is to be done, and is an integral part of this funda- 
mental law of our State. 

A Constitution is the written expression of the sovereign 
will of the people of a State, in relation to the form and pow- 
ers of government. Hence ail political power in Idaho is 
lodged in the people. And accordingly this Constitution 
commences with the words, u We, the people of the State of 
Idaho' ' * * * for certain purposes, l 'establish this Constitu- 
tion." Thus, also the first words in this Constitution 
show the republican form of government, which, by Sec. 4, 
Art. IV of the United States Constitution, is guaranteed to 
every State in the Union. 

"Grateful to Almighty God. n These words establish no 
religion, or even require a belief in God; but they do say 
that the people of Idaho do believe in God, and are grateful 
to Him for their freedom. 



Two great objects of the Constitution are stated in the 
enacting clause: "to secure the blessings of freedom, n and 
"to promote our common welfare. n 

To secure the blessings of freedom there must be govern- 
ment. Without government freedom cannot long exist. 
"The w-orst form of government is better than anarchy. n 
The Declaration of Independence says, c 'That to secure these 
rights, governments are instituted among men deriving their 
just powers from the consent of the governed. ' ■ And such a 
government this Constitution establishes for the State of 
Idaho. 

By promoting education, fostering agriculture, manufac- 
turing, commerce and mining, and in many other ways, 
the government established by this Constitution, directly 
and indirectly "promotes our common welfare." 

But Idaho is only a subdivision of the United States, and, 
though recognized as a State by the Constitution of the 
United States, is not recognized as such by the Law 7 of Na- 
tions. As there defined a state is an independent political 
community, which the States of the Union are not. The 
thirteen colonies might have established themselves as inde- 
pendent political communities after the adoption of the Dec- 
laration of Independence had they not united themselves into 
one nation. But when they severed their connection with 
Great Britain, and afterwards adopted the Constitution, they 
surrendered their national independence, so that they have 
today no national powers, but only those powers requisite for 
local self government. 

There are three cases, in which by the Constitution of the 
United States, the States surrendered powers to the federal 
government. First, powers specially and exclusively dele- 
gated to Congress; second, powers prohibited to the States; 
third, where a power, though not forbidden to the States, 
would be repugnant to one granted to Congress, the States are 
impliedly forbidden to exercise such power. Of the first class 



is the exclusive power of Congress to legislate over places pur- 
chased for forts, arsenals, &c. ; and of the second class 
the prohibitions on the States of coining money, or 
emitting bills of credit, &c. ; and of the third class is the power 
to establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and the delega- 
tion of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction. 

ARTICLE I. DECLARATION OF RIGHTS. 

Section 1. All men are by nature free and equal and have certain 
inalienable rights, among which are enjoying and defending life and 
liberty, acquiring, possessing and protecting property, pursuing happi- 
ness, and securing safety. 

This section is taken with a few changes from the Declara- 
tion of Independence. Compare it with the following: "We 
hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created 
equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain 
inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the 
pursuit of happiness. ' ' 

All men are born free; but this freedom does not allow 
each one to do as he pleases. If such were allowed, liberty 
could not long exist, for the strong would soon control the 
weak. If each of us lived singly and alone in a vast wilder- 
ness, out of reach of our fellow beings, we might have, what 
we may call complete or natural liberty. But the moment 
we mingle in society we must give up some of our natural 
liberty, lest we trample upon the rights of others. "Society 
is an eternal compromise." Our liberty, then, consists in 
being allowed to follow our desires as long as we do not 
encroach upon the rights of others. 

We are all born equal. This does not say that in abilities, 
or in genius or in tact, we are all equal; we know we are not. 
To one nature gives the brain of Plato, to another, the elo- 
quence of Demosthenes, and to another, the inventive faculty 
of Edison, while to some she gives a greater share of muscle 
than of brain. But in the eye of the law all are equal. The 
law makes no distinction. The poor miner in his cabin on 



the hillside, and the millionaire in his palace of marble and 
gold are alike equally protected by, and amenable to the law. 

There are two kinds of rights : rights given to us by nature 
and rights given to us by law, or inherent and conventional 
rights. By the law of nature we have the right to life, lib- 
erty^ and the right to earn and hold property. These rights 
we have everywhere. But our conventional rights may 
depend upon the laws of the country in which we may hap- 
pen to be. For instance, some governments allow certain 
ones of their subjects to vote, and others do not. The right 
to vote is a conventional right, and being given by law, may 
be taken away by law. The reason we demand the right to 
vote is to better insure the security of our inherent rights. 
It is the end and duty of all government, whether monar- 
chy or republic, to secure to its subjects their inborn rights. 
The old idea was that men lived for the state; the new and 
better doctrine is that government is instituted for the indi- 
vidual. 

Sec. 2. All political power is inherent in the people. Government 
is instituted for their equal protection and benefit, and they have the 
right to alter, reform or abolish the same whenever they may deem it 
necessary, and no special privileges or immunities shall ever be granted 
that may not be altered, revoked or repealed by the legislature. 

Since government is instituted for the individual, any form 
of government needs the consent of the governed. And 
whenever any government fails to secure to its subjects their 
inherent rights, or becomes oppressive, the people have the 
right to alter it. Acting on this principle, the people of 
America revolted against the English government in 1776, 
and established a government of their own, and, in the lan- 
guage of the Declaration of Independence, u laid its founda- 
tion on such principles as to them seemed most likely to effect 
their safety and happiness. " But should this government ever 
fail to secure these ends, or become unjust, no doubt the 
American people would change it. 

It has been decided by the Supreme Court of the United 
States, that privileges and immunities granted by the legis- 



lature of a State, are contracts, which, under the provisions 
of Sec. 10, Art. I of the Federal Constitution, may not be im- 
paired. But by the provision of this section of the Consti- 
tution of our State, this saving clause, namely, that the legis- 
lature may alter or repeal special privileges and immunities, 
becomes a part or condition of every such contract that the 
legislature may make. For example, a charter granted by the 
legislature to a corporation is such a privilege or contract; 
and under this clause of the Constitution, the legislature may 
revoke such charter at its pleasure, provided no injustice is 
done to the corporators. (See Art. XI, Sec. 3.) The same 
is true in regard to other contracts entered into, or rights con- 
ferred by the legislature. 

Sec. 3. The State of Idaho is an inseparable part of the American 
Union, and the Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of 
the land. 

This section simply puts into words facts which have been 
undisputed since the Civil War; for then the question of State 
rights was forever settled. Before that it was claimed by 
some of the leading men of the country, that any State had 
the right at any time to set aside, not only any law of Con- 
gress, but the Constitution itself, and to secede from the 
Union whenever it desired to do so. Bi5t the decision secured 
by the Civil War is otherwise, so that even without this sec- 
tion, the Constitution of the United States would still be the 
supreme law of the land, and Idaho an inseparable part of 
the Union. 

Sec. 4. The exercise and enjoyment of religious faith and worship 
shall forever be guaranteed; and no person shall be denied any civil or 
political right, privilege or capacity on account of his religious opinions; 
but the liberty of conscience hereby secured shall not be construed to 
dispense with oaths or affirmations, or excuse acts of licentiousness or 
justify polygamous or other pernicious practices, inconsistent with 
morality or the peace or safety of the State; nor to permit any person, 
organization or association to directly or indirectly aid or abet, counsel 
or advise, any person to commit the crime of bigamy or polygamy, or any 
other crime. No person shall be required to attend or support any min- 
istry or place of worship, religious sect or denomination, or pay tithes 
against his consent; nor shall any preference be given by law to any 



10 

religious denomination or mode of worship. Bigamy and polygamy are 
forever prohibited in the State, and the legislature shall provide by law 
for the punishment of such crimes. 

In Idaho we have no established religion. Every person 
may entertain such religious beliefs as best satisfy his con- 
science, and if he is otherwise fit to hold office, his religious 
opinions do not disqualify him. But, though the Constitu- 
tion is thus mindful of our liberty of conscience, it does not 
dispense with oaths and affirmations. In certain cases a per- 
son may be compelled to make oath or affirmation. Grave 
and weighty matters are sometimes spoken by persons, such 
as witnesses, and it becomes necessary that such matters be 
sanctioned by their consciences. 

An oath is a declaration made with an appeal to God for 
the truth of what is declared. But as there are those who 
are conscientiously scrupulous of taking oaths, the Consti- 
tution allow r s them simply to affirm, which is equally bind- 
ing with an oath, and, if false is perjury as well as is the 
making of false oaths. 

But though any one may believe in and adhere to any 
religion, yet, should he believe in a religion that teaches 
pernicious practices, Ife would not be permitted to put such 
practices into effect. Thus the Thugs of India hold it a 
religious duty to murder those whose beliefs do not co-incide 
with theirs. No one in Idaho is forbidden to believe in the 
religion of the Thugs, yet should one who believes in it 
attempt to put it into practice he would at once become lia- 
ble to punishment. Tithes are the tenth part of the produce 
of the farm or other industry payable for the maintenance of 
the clergy. But as there is here no established religion or 
church, on one is obliged to pay tithes or in any other way 
to support any church or clergy. Nor can any person be 
compelled to attend any church. This would be inconsis- 
tent with religious freedom. Experience has shown that it is 
better that churches be supported by voluntary contributions. 



11 

By this section also bigamy and polygamy are forever pro- 
hibited, and the legislature is instructed to pass laws provid- 
ing for the punishment of such crimes. These words, big- 
amy and polygamy, are commonly used promiscously, and 
signify a plurality of wives or husbands at the same time. 
This crime is punishable by fine or imprisonment or both, 

Sec. 5. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be sus- 
pended, uoless in case of rebellion or invasion, the public safety requires 
it, and then only in such manner as shall be prescribed by law. 

These are almost the same words as are used in Sec. 9, of 
Art. I of the Constitution of the United States. A writ is a 
legal writing, issued by the proper authority, commanding 
the person to whom it is directed to do or not to do some act. 
These writs were formerly written in Latin and thus still 
hold their Latin names. 

The words habeas corpus mean ' 'you may have the body. ' ' 
The privilege of this writ is one of the great bulwarks of our 
liberties, for by it any person who thinks himself unjustly 
confined or imprisoned, can be brought before a judge or 
court and have the cause of his confinement inquired into. 
In our State the writ is obtained from the Supreme Court or 
any judge of the District Courts, upon application of either 
the detained person himself or of some one in his behalf; and 
the judge refusing to issue the same, upon sufficient cause 
being shown, is liable to a fine of five thousand dollars. The 
writ is directed to the person detaining the prisoner, com- 
manding him to bring the same before the judge or court 
granting the writ, and to show cause why the prisoner should 
not be set free. If upon examination the court finds the 
imprisonment illegal, the prisoner must at once be set free. 

This celebrated writ is used not only to release persons un- 
justly detained, but also by parents to get control of their 
children when in custody of some one else; to release sane 
persons imprisoned on charges of insanity, and still other 
ways. But in time of war the public safety often requires 
that persons arrested on suspicion should be held until proof 



12 

of their crimes be secured. Under such circumstances the 

privilege of the habeas corpus writ maybe suspended by the 

Legislature or the Governor. 

Sec. 6. All persons shall be bailable by sufficient sureties, except 
for capital offenses, where the proof is evident or the presumption great. 
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor 
cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. 

When a person is regularly arrested for an offence, he 
must go to jail for safe custody, or he may gain his liberty 
by giving bail. The manner of putting a person arrested 
under bail is by requiring him to give a bond to the court or 
magistrate, signed by two or more sureties. The sureties then 
become responsible for his appearance for trial in the sum 
named in the bail-bond. But persons arrested for capital 
offenses, and the proof is evident are not bailable ; for what 
will a man not forfeit to save his life? And then what satis- 
faction would it be to the people to take the property of the 
sureties when the felon escaped unharmed? In lesser crimes 
it is supposed that a man's sense of honor and the ties of 
friendship will be great enough and strong enough to keep 
him from forfeiting his bail bond. 

Should the bail asked by a justice of the peace or other 
magistrate be deemed too high the case may be brought be- 
fore a higher court on a writ of habeas corpus, and if such 
court finds the bail demanded excessive, it may reduce it. 

By this section, also, excessive fines, and such punishments 
as ducking, the stocks, or the still more cruel punishments 
of burning at the stake, quartering and drawing, branding 
with hot irons, and the like, are prohibited. 

Sec. 7. The right of trial by jury shall remain inviolate; but in civil 
actions three^fourths of the jury may render a verdict, and the Legisla- 
ture may provide that in all cases of misdemeanors five-sixths of the 
jury may render a verdict. A trial by jury may be waived in all crimi- 
nal cases not amounting to felony by the consent of both parties, ex- 
pressed in open court, and in civil actions by the consent of the parties 
signified in such manner as may be prescribed by law. In civil actions 
and in cases of misdemeanor the jury may consist of twelve or of any 
number less than twelve upon which the parties may agree in open 
court, 



IS 

Trial by jury is a very ancient method of deciding certain 
questions. It is believed that it was in use in the republic 
of Athens. A jury generally consists of twelve persons, who, 
before a cause is submitted to them, are thoroughly exam- 
ined so that only impartial persons may serve. In criminal 
actions, when the crime is a felony, the jury always consists 
of twelve men, and it takes their unanimous vote to render a 
verdict; but under this section, in civil actions the jury may, 
by the consent of the parties, consist of twelve or any num- 
ber less, and three-fourths of such jury may render a verdict. 
Misdemeanors are such crimes as are ordinarily punishable 
by a fine or imprisonment in the county jail. The higher 
crimes, such as are punishable by death or imprisonment in 
the State penitentiary, are known as felonies. Under this 
section a iurv that is to trv a misdemeanor may consist of 
twelve persons, or less if agreed to by both parties, but the 
Legislature may provide that five-sixths of them may render 
a verdict. In such cases, and in civil 'actions, the parties 
may also waive trial by jury and leave the decision to the 
judge or court. 

Sec. 8, No person shall be held to answer for any felony or criminal 
offense of any grade, unless on presentment or indictment of a grand 
jury, or on information of the public prosecutor, after a commitment by 
a magistrate, except in cases of impeachment, in cases cognizable by 
Probate Courts or by Justices of the Peace, and in cases arising in the 
militia when in actual service in time of war or public danger: Pro- 
vided, That a grand jury may be summoned upon the order of the Dis- 
trict Court in the manner provided by law: and, Provided further, That 
after a charge has been ignored by a grand jury, no person shall be held 
to answer or for trial therefor upon information by the public prosecutor. 

There are two juries, the grand and the petit jury. The 
grand jury consists of sixteen men and inquires into public 
offenses committed in the county and presents them to the 
court. If the grand jury finds upon investigation that there 
is reason to believe that the accusations against a person are 
true, it presents what is called, a true bill, upon which the 
public prosecutor draws up an indictment, and the person 
accused will be tried by a petit jury. 



14 

But this section allows another procedure for bringing a 
person accused to trial by a petit jury. Preliminary exami- 
nations may be had before a Justice of the Peace, or Probate 
Judge, and if evidence enough is adduced to create a pre- 
sumption of guilt, the public prosecutor draws up an infor- 
mation which is a complaint by the State against the per- 
son accused, who will then be brought to trial as upon an 
indictment. Because of the greater expedition and the les- 
sened expense this latter procedure is almost exclusively in 
use. 

In cases cognizable by Probate Courts and by Justices of 
the Peace (see Sees. 21 and 25 Art. V) there is a still more 
expeditious method of bringing an accused to trial. Any 
person knowing or having good reason to believe that 
another has committed a crime, may file a sworn complaint 
with the Clerk of the Probate Court, or the Justice of the 
Peace as the case may be, and upon this complaint the Clerk 
or Justice must issue a warrant for the arrest of the person 
named in the complaint, and have him brought to trial. 

In time of war or public danger the Governor may declare 
certain sections or the whole State under martial law, which 
then takes the place of the civil law. In such times it 
becomes necessary that offenses be punished at once, and 
the procedure of the civil courts is then too slow. Impeach- 
ments are preferred by the House of Representatives and 
tried by the Senate. (See Sees. 3 and 4, Art. V.) 

Sec. 9. Every person may freely speak, write and publish on all 
subjects, being responsible for the abuse of that liberty. 

The Constitution of the United States contains a provi- 
sion similar to this, (Amend. Art. I) but that applies only to 
the federal government and not to the States. 

The liberty to speak or write on all subjects is second in 
importance only to the inherent right to life. Every one 
may freely speak or write, but is responsible for the abuse of 
that right. If anything is spoken or written and published 
which is injurious to another, or tends to break the peace, it 



15 

is punishable as slander or libel, and, though the matter 
spoken or written, be true, that will not take away its crimi- 
nal character, unless it be also said or written with good 
motives. 

Sec. 10. The people shall have the right to assemble in a peaceable 
manner to consult for their common good, to instruct their representa- 
tives and to petition the Legislature for the redress of grievances. 

When we remember that in our system of government the 

men elected to the various offices are but the servants of the 

people; that the wishes of the majority of the people should 

be the law r s, we can readily see why the right to peaceably 

assemble, to instruct their representatives, and to petition, 

must be inviolate. This section does not give the people the 

right to command their representatives, but only to petition, 

leaving it in the discretion of the petitioned to do or not to 

do the petitioners' request. Thus, the Board of Pardons 

must hear petitions for pardons, yet they may or may not 

pardon, as they see fit. So also, the Legislature must receive 

petitions or instructions in regard to bills or other matters 

before it, but it may still exercise its own discretion as to 

complying with the petitions. 

Sec. 11. The people have the right to bear arms for their security 
and defense; but the Legislature shall regulate the exercise of this right 
by law. 

The right to bear arms is secured by the double authority 
of this Constitution and of Article II of the Amendments to 
the Constitution of the United States, in which latter place 
is given as reason for this right the necessity of a "well regu- 
lated militia' ' to the security of a free State. 

Sec. 12. The military shall be subordinate to the civil power; and no 
soldier in time of peace shall be quartered in any house without the 
•consent of its owner, nor in time of war except in the manner prescribed 
by law. 

The military power is subordinate to and controlled by the 
civil power. The Governor has the power to call out the 
militia, but only in times of great danger can he declare mar- 
tial law, which then ousts the civil law. By quartering a 



soldier is meant stationing him there for lodging and food, 
This has sometimes been done by tyrannical rulers and is one 
of the grievances mentioned in the Declaration of Independ- 
ence. During time of peace a man's house may only be in- 
vaded against his consent, by authority of a warrant, (See 
Sec, 17.) 

Sec. 13. In all criminal prosecutions, the party accused shall have 
the right to a speedy and public trial; to have the process of the court 
to compel the attendance of witnesses in his behalf, and to appear and 
defend in person and with counsel. No person shall be put twice in 
jeopardy for the same offense; nor be compelled in any criminal case to 
be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty or property 
without due process of law. 

This section prohibits a grievous abuse that has often been 
practiced by despotic rulers in the Old World, namely, im- 
prisoning persons under suspicion of crime, and sometimes 
innocent persons whom they wished to get out of the way, 
and making them languish in prisons without a trial. Here 
the lesser crimes, such as come under the jurisdiction of Jus- 
tices of the Peace or Probate Courts are tried at once, while 
the greater offenses are tried at the next term of the District 
Court. All trials are public. 

In England, before 1688 a person arrested for a capital 
crime was not allowed witnesses or a lawyer. Here he can 
compel the attendance of witnesses in his behalf by writ of 
subpoena, which is issued by the court, and he may appear 
for himself and have counsel. If he is too poor to employ a 
lawyer, the court will appoint one for him, who will be paid 
by the county. 

A person is in jeopardy when the proceedings against him 
have been carried so far that everything necessary is in 
readiness for his trial. This is held to be when the jury panel 
is full, and has been sworn. In other words, a person is in 
danger of punishment by the law for an offense, when a jury 
has been set aside and sworn to try the cause. If this jury 
acquits him, or is discharged without legal cause before arriv- 
ing at a verdict or disagreement he cannot again be tried for 



11 

the same offense. If a person was convicted and has served 
his punishment, and is again put on trial for the same offense 
it will be a complete defense for him to plead such former 
conviction* 

This section also prohibits a grievous wrong that used to 
be practiced in olden times, that is, compelling the accused 
to testify against themselves. Now no one, being tried for 
any crime, can be compelled to take the witness stand either 
for or against himself; and, if he introduce no evidence 
at all, nothing can be presumed against him. He is pre- 
sumed innocent until the crime has been proved against him. 

Due process of law, as here used, means the giving of a 
regular trial to the accused according to the proceedings 
established by law. As we have seen here before the right 
to life, liberty, and to hold property, is an inalienable, 
natural right. It is mainly to secure this right that govern- 
ments are instituted and laws made. Ye ; _ for certain wrongs 
a person may forfeit his right to property, liberty and even 
to life. But only as punishment for a wrong may he thus 
forfeit these rights, and it would not only be setting all law 
at naught to deprive any one of any of these rights without 
a regular trial, but would manifestly often lead to the gross- 
est injustice. It not infrequently happens that innocent 
persons are accused, who, when given an opportunity can 
prove themselves innocent. The Constitution wisely pro- 
vides that all persons accused, even the most guilty, must 
be given a trial, so that the awful mistake of punishing an 
innocent person is not likely to be made. 

Sec. 14. The necessary use of lands for the construction of reser- 
voirs or storage basins, for the purposes of irrigation, or for the rights of 
way for the construction of canals, ditches, flumes, or pipes to convey 
water to the place of use, for any useful, beneficial, or necessary purpose, 
or for drainage; or for the drainage of mines or the working thereof, by 
means of roads, railroads, tramways, cuts, tunnels, shafts, hoisting works, 
dumps or other necessary means to their complete development, or any 
other use necessary to the complete development of the material 
resources of the State, or the preservation of the health of its inhabi- 
tants, is hereby declared to be a public use. and subject to the regula- 



18 

tion and control of the State. Private property may be taken for public 
use, but not until a just compensation, to be ascertained in a manner 
prescribed by law, shall be paid therefor. 

By public use is meant that the right to have the benefit 
of, and to control the manner of using such things as are 
mentioned in this section, remains or is vested in the public, 
and is regulated by laws and courts. Irrigation can in most 
instances only be carried on by the construction of great 
ditches or canals, which require large outlays of labor and 
capital, and are usually built by corporations. Experience 
has shown that it is unsafe to leave the entire control of such 
works in the hands of such corporations or individuals. 
Under this section the Legislature may pass laws regulating 
the letting out of the water in such ditches or canals, and the 
price to be paid by the user. So with the other rights men- 
tioned in this section, all are or may he regulated by laws 
passed by the Legislature. 

The preceding section tells how private property may be 
forfeited because of a wrong by the owner; that is, only by 
due process of law. But the welfare of the State often re- 
quires that private property be taken for public purposes. 
This is known as the right of eminent domain. However 
this right does not permit the taking of private property un- 
less a just compensation be made therefor. 

Sec. 15. There shall be no imprisonment for debt in this State, ex- 
cept in cases of fraud. 

For a debt no one in this State can be imprisoned* The 
imprisonment allowed by this section is not for the debt, but 
as punishment for the fraud. 

Sec. 16. No bill of attainder or ex post facto law, or law impairing 
the obligation of contracts, shall ever be passed. 

The enactment of any laws such as mentioned in this sec- 
tion is also forbidden to the States by Sec. ioof Art. I of the 
United States Constitution. 

At common law, a person sentenced to death was not only 
deprived of all civil rights, but his property was forfeited to 
the State, and he could neither inherit nor transmit prop- 



19 

erty by descent to any other person; not even could his 
children inherit from his ancestors, for, by his crime, the 
chain of descent was broken. This was known as attainder 
and corruption of blood. 

A bill of attainder was an Act passed by the law making 
bodv, sentencing and attainting a person without a regular 
trial before a judicial tribunal. 

An ex post facto law (a law passed after the act done) is 
one that makes an act punishable in a manner in which it 
was not punishable when committed. Thus, in our State, 
forgery is punishable by imprisonment in the penitentiary 
for from one year to fourteen years. Should, then, the 
Legislature pass a law making it punishable by imprison- 
ment for fifteen or more years, or by death, it would 
be an ex post facto law as to those who had committed the 
crime prior to the passage of the law. So also, would a law 
making an act a crime which was not such when com- 
mitted, be an ex post facto law, and forbidden by this section. 

A legal and valid contract can only be broken with impun- 
ity by the consent of all the parties to it, and any law passed 
after the contract was made can not impair it. This clearly 
does not prohibit the Legislature to pass laws affecting or 
controlling future contracts. Thus, bankrupt laws are laws 
impairing the obligation of contracts, and no bankrupt can 
be discharged under or by virtue of a law not in force when 
he was declared insolvent. In the great case of the Trustees 
of Dartmouth College against Woodford, the Supreme Court 
of the United States held that an Act by the Legislature of 
New Hampshire altering the charter held by the College 
was an Act impairing the obligation of a contract, and there- 
fore unconstitutional and void. It was in this case that 
Daniel Webster made his eloquent argument in defense of 
his alma mater. 

Sec. 17. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, 
houses, papers and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures 
shall not be violated; and no warrant shall issue without probable cause. 



20 

shown by affidavit, particularly describing the place to be searched and 
the person or thing to be seized. 

This section is almost verbatim like the fourth amend- 
ment to the Constitution of the United States. The Ameri- 
can saying is that "a man's house is his castle, n and by this 
section it is provided that it must not be entered against the 
consent of the owner, except by an officer acting under a 
warrant, which latter can only be issued (see Sec. 8) when 
there is probable ground to justify such search or seizure, as 
in case of crime, and there is good reason to believe. that the 
felon is in the house. 

Sec. 18. Courts of justice shall be open to every person, and a 
.speedy remedy afforded for every injury of person, property or charac- 
ter, and right and justice shall be administered without sale, denial, de- 
lay or prejudice. 

This is laying down principles; simply recommending 
what shall be effected by laws. A study of our statutes will 
show that the Legislature has tried to carry this out in good 
faith. Courts, with regular and frequent terms, are insti- 
tuted for the administration of justice freely, impartially and 
without delay. A judge who should take a bribe would be 
guilty of a felony. 

Sec. 19. No power, civil or military, shall at any time interfere with 
or prevent the free and lawful exercise of the right of suffrage. 

It is not within the purpose of this work to eulogize on the 

right of suffrage. It is the most powerful weapon given by 

the Constitution to the people for the protection of their 

rights and liberties, and any interference with this right 

would be an encroachment upon one of the sacred privileges 

guaranteed by the Constitution. 

Sec. 20. No property qualification shall ever be required for any 
person to vote or hold office, except in school elections or elections 
creating indebtedness. 

To require a property qualification to entitle persons to 

vote would be to discriminate between the rich and the poor, 

which is against the spirit of our institutions. But in school 

and other elections creating indebtedness, such qualification 



21 

may- be required, since not all are equally affected by such 

elections. 

Sec. 21. This enumeration of rights shall not be construed to im- 
pair or deny other rights retained by the people. 

A good government secures and guarantees to every sub- 
ject all his just rights. But in the nature of things it is im- 
possible to enumerate on paper all the rights that any person 
may have or acquire. So this section provides that the 
rights herein enumerated shall not be construed to be the 
citizens' only rights, or impair any that they may have. 

ARTICLE II. DISTRIBUTION OF POWER. 

Section 1. The powers of the government of this State art 
divided into three distinct departments, the Legislative, Executive, and 
Judicial; and no person or collection of persons charged with the exer- 
cise of powers properly belonging to one of the departments shall exer- 
cise any powers properly belonging to either of the others, except as in 
this Constitution expressly directed or permitted. 

Our State government, like the national government, is 
divided into three branches: i, the Legislative, which makes 
the laws; 2, the Executive which enforces the laws; and 3, 
the Judicial, which interprets the laws. 

History shows, and reason tells us, that it is best to have 
these three functions of government distinct and separate. 
There is less opportunity for intrigue and bribery, for oppres- 
sion or arbitrary use of power, than when all are centered in 
one body or one person. 

Yet, as we shall learn hereafter, the three departments are 
not entirely distinct and separate. The Senate sometimes 
sits as a court, and the Governor has a hand in making laws. 
This section is not absolutely indispensible since in other 
parts of this Constitution the three branches are each specially 
provided for, yet it is proper and puts the intention of the 
trainers beyona all dispute or doubt, 

ARTICLE III. LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 

Section 1. The Legislative power of the State shall be vested in a 
Senate and House of Representatives, The enacting clause of every 



bill shall be as follows: ''Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State 
of Idaho." 

The Legislative bodies in all of the States of the Union 
are divided into two houses, modeled after the Parliament 
of England. One great object of this separation of the 
Legislature into two houses is to prevent hasty and precipi- 
tate legislation. One house is more easily aroused by per- 
sonal influence or party intrigue, to act hastily, than two. 
But a hasty decision will not so likely become a law when it 
must first be reviewed by a rival house. With the excep- 
tion of Pennsylvania and Georgia, all the States have always 
had this division of the Legislature into two houses, and 
these two States soon saw the defect in their government, 
and, in the Constitutions which they adopted, provided for 
two houses. 

A law without the enacting clause prescribed by this sec- 
tion would be void. 

Sec. 2. Trie Senate shall consist of eighteen members and the House 
of Representatives of thirty-six members. The Legislature may increase 
the number of Senators and Representatives: Provided, The num- 
ber of Senators shall never exceed twenty-four, and the House of Rep- 
resentatives shall never exceed sixty members. The Senators and 
Representatives shall be chosen by the electors of the respective counties 
or districts into which the State may from time to time be divided by law. 

In a pure democracy the people themselves make and 
enact the laws; but in a State so large as is Idaho it is 
obviously impossible that all its inhabitants gather and make 
laws, so they elect a few of their number to represent them 
in the Legislature. This section fixed the number of mem- 
bers of both houses at the inauguration of the government 
of the State under this Constitution at fifty-four, but wisely 
made provision for increase to keep pace with the increase 
in population. But lest the Legislature become too large 
and unwieldy a body, the maximum is fixed at twenty-four 
Senators and sixty Representatives. (See Article XIX.) 

Sec. 3. The Senators and Representatives shall be elected for the 
term of two years, from and after the first day of December next follow- 
ing the general election, 



23 

The general election, the Tuesday after the first day of 

November, is the same day as that on which Congressmen 

and presidential electors are chosen, and the same day as 

that on which all our State officers are elected, and occurs 

every other year in the even numbered years. 

Sec. 4. The members of the first Legislature shall be apportioned 
to the several legislative districts of the State in proportion to the num- 
ber of votes polled at the last general^election for delegate to Congress, 
and thereafter to be apportioned as may be provided by law: Provided, 
Each county shall be entitled to one Representative. 

Before Idaho Territory was admitted as a State, it was not 
entitled to send Representatives to Congress, only a delegate, 
who could take part in debates but had no vote. It was ac- 
cording to the number of votes polled at the election of this 
delegate that the State was divided into Legislative districts. 
To illustrate: There were to be 18 Senators; then the State 
was divided into districts so large that each would com- 
prise one-eighteenth of the votes polled for delegate to Con- 
gress, and called a senatorial district. Likewise with the 
representative districts, with the provision, however, that 
each county should be entitled to at least one representative 
regardless of the number of votes polled for delegate. 

Sec. 5. A senatorial or representative district, when more than 
one county shall constitute the same, shall be composed of contiguous 
counties and no county shall be divided in creating such districts. 

This is provided to make the districts as compact as prac- 
ticable for convenience, and also to prevent gerrymandering, 
which is the dividing of a State into districts in such a way 
as to give one political party advantage over another. 

Sec. 6. No person shall be a Senator or Representative who at the 
time of his election is not a citizen of the United States and an elector 
of this State, nor any one who has not been for one year next preceding 
his election an elector of the county or district whence he may be 
chosen. 

As Representatives and Senators are elected, each to rep- 
resent a certain district it is but fair to require that he have 
resided in his district a certain length of time in order that 
he may know its needs and wishes. 



24 

Sec. 7. Senators and Representatives in all cases except for treason, 
felony, or breach of the peace, shall be privileged from arrest during the 
session of the Legislature, and in going to and returning from the same, 
and shall not be liable to any civil process during the session of the 
Legislature, nor during the ten days next before the commencement 
thereof; nor shall a member for words uttered in debate in either house 
be questioned in any other place. 

This is a privilege granted to members of nearly all leg- 
islative bodies in Europe and America. Nearly the same 
words are embodied in Sec. 6, Art. I, of the United States 
Constitution. These privileges of members of a legislative 
body are obviously necessary for their preservation. Com- 
plete freedom of debate about measures and men is secured 
by this clause. But the privilege does not protect members 
for words spoken outside of the course of parliamentary pro- 
ceedings. 

Sec. 8. The sessions of the Legislature shall, after the first session 
thereof be held biennially, at the Capital of the State, commencing on 
the first Monday after the first of January, and every second year there 
after, unless a different day shall have been appointed by law, and at 
other times when convened by the Governor. 

The first Legislature after the admission of Idaho as a 
State, convened on the 8th day of December, 1890, Since 
then there have been four sessions, all commencing as pro- 
vided for in this section. There has been no special session 
thus far, A session lasts until its business is finished, and 
then adjourns sine die (without a day fixed for meeting 
again.) 

Sec. 9. Each house when assembled shall choose its own officers, 
judge of the election, qualifications and returns of its own members, 
determine its own rules of proceeding, and sit upon its own adjourn- 
ments; but neither house shall, without the concurrence of the other, 
adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than that in 
which it may be sitting. 

The officers of the Senate are the President, Chief Clerk, 
Sergeant-at-Arms, and Messenger. Those of the House of 
Representatives are the same, except that the presiding officer 
is called the Speaker. These officers are elected by each 
house, except the President of the Senate when the Lieuten- 
ant-Governor fills that place (Sec, 13, Art, IV.) 



25 

The certificate of election furnished to members of the 
Legislature by the Clerks of the Boards of Canvassers of the 
different counties, are prima facie evidence that the persons 
holding them were regularly elected. But if there is a con- 
test of the election of one, or any question as to the legality 
of his election, as where fraud or false returns are alleged, 
the house to which he claims to be elected is the court 
which decides, and from its decision there is no appeal. No 
law court can review this decision for the Legislature is 
higher than the courts. Likewise each house has power to 
judge of the qualifications of the members. Each house de- 
termines and adopts for its use parliamentary rules, and 
decides when to adjourn. But it is evident that there must 
be some qualification upon this power of adjournment, other- 
wise either house might stop all business. So that, as mem- 
bers are paid per diem salaries, it would be a temptation to 
continue in alternate session until they had each earned 
three hundred dollars, whether their business required so 
long a session or not. (See Sec. 23.) 

Sec. 10. A majority of each house shall constitute a quorum to do 
business, but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may 
compel the attendance of absent members in such manner and under 
such penalties as 6uch house may provide. A quorum being in attend 
ance, if either house fail to effect an organization within the first four 
days thereafter, the members of the house so failing shall be entitled to 
no compensation from the end of the said four days until an organiza- 
tion shall have been effected. 

A quorum is a sufficient number to do business. This 
number must be at least one more than half of the number 
of members elected. A less number may meet from day to 
day, call roll and adjourn. They may also compel the at- 
tendance of absent members, by sending the Sergeant-at- 
Arms to arrest them. 

Through political squabble it sometimes happens that no 
organization is effected; in that case the Constitution has 
wisely provided that the members shall receive no pay until 
an organization is effected. 



20 

Sec. 11. Each house may. for good cause shown, with the concur- 
rence of two-thirds of all the members expel a member. 

The power to expel a member who is unworthy, as, for ex- 
ample, one who should sell his vote on any question before 
the house, is clearly a necessary one. But it is a power that 
may easily be abused for partisan purposes ; and, therefore, 
this section requires two-thirds, of all the members elected to 
agree to the use of so radical a power. 

Sec. 12. The business of* each house, and of the committee of the 
whole, shall be transacted openly and not in secret session. 

Any one may enter the doors of the Legislature to watch 

the proceedings and listen to the debates. Thus the people 

may know what their representatives are doing. Newspaper 

reporters may report the proceedings so that all over the 

State the people may know what their law makers are doing. 

Sec. 13. Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings; and the 
yeas and nays of the members of either house on any question, shall at 
the request of any three members present, be entered on the journal. 

The journal is a book wherein are entered by the clerk 
the doings of the house, and upon the request of three mem- 
bers, he also enters thereon the vote of each member. Any 
one may examine the journal and find out what business has 
been done, and how the member from his district has voted 
on the different questions and bills. 

Sec. 14. Bills may originate in either house, but may be amended 
or rejected in the other, except that bills for raising revenue shall orig- 
inate in the House of Representatives. 

A bill is the draft of a proposed law before it is enacted. 
This section is taken from Section 7, Article I, of the 
United States Constitution which likewise provides that bills 
for raising revenue must originate in the House of Repre- 
sentatives of the United States. The Senators and Repre- 
sentatives in Congress are not elected the same way, so there 
may be some reason for this provision in the federal Consti- 
tution, but it is hard to see why this should be so in our 
State Constitution, since both Senators and Representatives 
are elected by the direct vote of the people. In many States 



27 

bills for raising revenue may originate in either branch of 
the Legislature. 

Sec. 15. No laws shall be passed except by bill, nor shall any bill be 
put upon its final passage until the same, with the amendments thereto, 
shall have been printed for the use of the members; nor shall any bill 
become a law unless the same shall have been read on three several 
days in each house previous to the final vote thereon: Provided, In case 
of urgency, two-thirds of the house where such bill may be pending 
may, upon a vote of the yeas and nays, dispense with this provision. On 
the final passage of all bills they shall be read at length, section by sec- 
tion, and the vote shall be by yeas and nays upon each bill separately, 
and shall be entered upon the journal; and no bill shall become a law 
without the concurrence of the majority of the members present. 

No stronger illustration of the fact that the Constitution 
is the l 'supreme law of the land" can be found than in the 
decisions of the Supreme Court holding laws invalid because 
not passed exactly as prescribed by this section. 

This section makes three provisions: i. No law shall be 
passed except by bill. Resolutions passed by both houses 
of Congress and signed by the President are laws; but in 
Idaho all laws must be passed by bill, and joint resolutions 
do not have the force of laws. 2. That bills with the amend- 
ments thereto must be printed. 3. That a bill before it can 
become a law, must be read on three several days. The last 
requirement is evidently to prevent hasty legislation; to se- 
cure to every law due and careful deliberation. 

But when there is urgent demand for immediate legisla- 
tion, as, for instance, when an insurrection takes place, and 
in order to quell it an appropriation must be promptly made, 
or the militia increased, then, in such case, the next proviso 
of this section of the Constitution allows the Legislature to 
dispense with the three readings but only by a yea and nay 
vote. The laws declared void by the decisions of the Su- 
preme Court, above referred to, were laws passed under sus- 
pension of the rule requiring three readings, without a yea 
and nay vote on the question of suspension. 

After having been read twice on different days, unless the 
rule is suspended, the bill is read a third time section by 



28 

section, and as the roll is called each member answers yea 
or nay. A quorum, as we have seen, must be a majority of 
the members elected. By this section a bill cannot become 
a law unless a majority present vote for it; thus, thesmallest 
number that can pass a law is a majority of a quorum, or 
more than one-fourth of all the members elected. 

Sec. 16. Every Act shali embrace but one subject and matters prop- 
erly connected therewith, which subject shall be expressed in the title; 
but if any subject shall be embraced in an Act which shall not be ex- 
pressed in the title, such Act shall be void only as to so much thereof 
as shall not be embraced in the title. 

This is to prevent certain practices often resorted to in 
Congress, for the purpose of passing bills that would not 
otherwise pass. One is that of tacking a bill that would not 
pass if attention were called to it, onto some other bill which 
is sure to pass, and thus slipping it through unawares. 

By requiring that only one subject be embraced in an Act, 
and that be expressed in the title, this section prevents the 
practice of combining several private projects in one bill, 
and thus gain the support of all who are anxious to see any 
one of the bills pass, But if the title inadvertently or other- 
wise, fails to express matters connected with the main sub- 
ject of the Act, and which may be properly embraced in the 
body of the Act, not the whole law, but only that part not 
so expressed in the title is void, 

A third practice that is prevented by this section is that of 
slipping objectionable measures through under innocent look- 
ing titles that do not call attention to the real object of the 
bill. 

Sec. 17. Every Act or Joint Resolution shall be plainly worded, 
avoiding as far as practicable the use of technical terms. 

This is wholesome advice. Too often whole fortunes have 
been spent in disputes over the precise meaning of laws, and 
it is safe to say that the greater part of the business of our 
courts is because of the ambiguous and technical wording of 
our laws. 



29 

SeO. 18. No Act shall be revised or amended by mere reference to 
its title, but the section as amended shall be set forth and published at 
full length. 

The title and body of a law must agree, but amending the 
title only, does not amend the whole law. An amended law 
is in form and effect a new law> 

Sec. 19. The Legislature shall not pass local or special laws in any 
of the following enumerated cases, that is to say; 

Regulating the jurisdiction and duties of Justices of the Peace and 
Constables. 

For the punishment of crime and misdemeanors. Regulating the 
practice of the courts of justice. 

Providing for a change of venue in civil or criminal actions. 

Granting divorces. 

Changing the names of persons or places, 

Authorizing the laying out, opening, altering, maintaining, working 
on, or vacating roads, highways, streets, alleys, town plats, parks, ceme- 
teries, or any public grounds not owned by the State, summoning and 
impaneling grand and trial juries and providing for their compensation. 

Regulating county and township business, or the election of county 
«md township officers. 

For the assessment and collection of taxes. 

Providing for and conducting elections, or designating the place of 
voting. 

Affecting estates of deceased persons, minors, or other persons under 
legal disabilities. 

Extending the time for collection of taxes. 

Giving effect to invalid deeds, leases or other instruments. 

Refunding money paid into the State Treasury. 

Releasing or extinguishing in whole or in part, the indebtedness, lia- 
bility or obligation of any person or corporation in this State, or any 
municipal corporation therein. 

Declaring any person of age, or authorizing any minor to sell, lease 
or encumber bis or her property. 

Legalizing as against the State the unauthorized or invalid act of 
any officer. 

Exempting 1 property from taxation. 

Changing county seats-; unless the law authorizing the change shall 
require that two-thirds of the legal votes cast at a general or special 
election shall designate the place to which the county seat shall be 
-changed-: Provided^ That the power to pass a special law shall cease, as 
long as the Legislature shall provide for such change by general law: 
Provided, further. That no special law shall be passed for any county 
softener than once in six years. 

Restoring to citizenship persons convicted of infamous crimes. 

Regulating the interest on money. 

Authorizino' the creation, extension or impairing of liens. 



30 

Chartering or licensing ferries, bridges or roads. 

Remitting fines, penalties or forfeitures. 

Providing for the management of common schools. 

Creating offices or prescribing the powers and duties of officers in 
counties, cities, townships, election districts or school districts, except 
as in this Constitution otherwise provided. 

Changing the law of descent or succession. 

Authorizing the adoption or legitimization of children, 

For limitation of civil or criminal actions. 

Creating any corporation. 

Creating, increasing or decreasing fees, percentages or allowances of 
public officers during the term for which said officers are elected or ap- 
pointed. 

On all the subjects embraced in these subdivisions the Leg- 
islature is forbidden to pass special or local laws, that is, 
laws that would affect the inhabitants of only a part or sec- 
tion of the State, but all laws on these subjects must be of 
universal application in the State, binding upon all the in- 
habitants in all parts of the State. These subjects can be 
better provided for by general laws, than they could be if 
the Legislature had to pass a special law for each particular 
instance. Besides the inducement that special legislation 
offers to bribery and corruption tends to make the legislative 
halls the theatre of contending local or private interests to 
the exclusion of measures of great public utility. 

As nearly all the subjects mentioned in these subdivisions 
are treated in other parts of the Constitution we will not 
here discuss them. 

Sec. 20. The Legislature shall not authorize any lottery or gift 
enterprise under any pretense or for any purpose whatever. 

This prohibits all lotteries. The Legislature can neither 
itself legalize a lottery, nor give power to any one else to 
authorize a lottery. What the Legislature cannot do itself, 
it may in many instances empower some one else to do; but 
in this case the Legislature cannot even authorize a lottery. 

Gift enterprises of all sorts have often been decided by 
courts to be lotteries, and now by a law passed in the session 
of 1899, gambling in almost all forms is strictly prohibited. 



31 

Sec, 21.* All bills or joint resolutions passed shall be signed by the 
presiding officers of the respective houses. 

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, being a 
member of that body, has a vote on all questions that come 
before that branch of the Legislature, but the President of 
the Senate has no vote unless there is a tie vote by the Sen- 
ators, (See Sec, 13, Art. IV. ) 

Resolutions do not have the force and effect of laws; they 

are usually passed simply to express the sentiment of the 

Legislature on certain subjects. 

Sec. 22, No Act shall take effect until sixty days from the end of 
the session at which the same shall have been passed, except in case of 
emergency which emergency shall be declared in the preamble or in the 
body of the law. 

The framers of the Constitution undoubtedly intended 
this provision to give time to the people of the State to be- 
come acquainted with the laws before they should operate. 
It is an old maxim that * 'ignorance of the law excuses not. n 
Every one is presumed to know the law, and no one is ex- 
cused for not knowing it, but it would be a very harsh rule 
to expect one to know a law before the fact that such a law 
had been passed could possibly have reached him, France 
and some other countries used to have rules allowing a day 
for every certain number of miles distance from the Legis- 
lature before a newly enacted law went into effect. 

On extraordinary occasions laws may be enacted to go into 
effect sooner than sixty days from the end of the session but 
this must be so stated in the law, which statement is com- 
monly termed the "emergency clause." 

Sec. 23. Each member of the Legislature shall receive for his ser- 
vices a sum not exceeding five dollars per day from the commencement 
©f the session, but such pay shall not exceed for each member, except 
the presiding officers, in the aggregate three hundred dollars for per 
diem allowances for any one session.; and shall receive each the sum of 
ten cents per mile each way by the usual traveled route. 

When convened in extra session by the Governor, they shall each re- 
ceive five dollars per day; but no extra session shall continue for a 
longer period than twenty days, except in case of the first session of the 
Legislature. They shall receive such mileage as is allowed for regular 



sessions. The presiding officers of the Legislature shall each in virtue" 
of his office receive an additional compensation equal to one-half his 
per diem allowance as a member: Provided, That whenever any mem 
ber of the Legislature shall travel on a free pass in coming to or return- 
ing from the session of the Legislature, the number of miles actually 
traveled on such pass shall be deducted from the mileage of such mem 
ber. 

Members receive $5.00 per day; bat that they may not 
unnecessarily prolong the sessions, this aggregate salary 
must not exceed $300.00 for each member. This would 
make a session sixty days in length, and if they continue it 
longer they receive no pay for the extra days, The mileage 
is to be calculated on the most usual route to prevent mem- 
bers going a long distance out of their way on business of 
their own, or for pleasure, and still draw mileage for that 
extra travel. 

To prevent members from placing themselves under obli- 
gations to railroad companies and thus perhaps favor such 
companies in their legislation, it is provided that the num- 
ber of miles traveled on a pass shall be deducted in comput- 
ing mileage. The mileage allowed is more than the ex- 
penses of railroad fare; this makes it an object for members 
not to travel by pass. 

Sec. 24. The first concern of all good government is the virtue and 
sobriety of the people, and the purity of the home. The Legislature 
should further all wise and well directed efforts for 'the promotion of 
temperance and morality. 

This is good advice, and an inspection of our statute law<? 
will show that the Legislature has tried to follow it in good 
faith. There are laws for the punishment of every crime, 
and for the suppression of every evil. Not alone by direct 
laws, but by indirect ones, such as those requiring physiol- 
ogy and hygiene, with special reference to the evil effects of 
alcohol and tobacco, to be taught in the public schools, does 
the Legislature aim to secure the virtue and sobriety of the 
people. 

Sec. 25. The members of the Legislature shall before they enter 
upon the duties of their respective offices take or subscribe the follow- 
ing oath or affirmation: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm, as the case 



33 

may be) that I will support the Constitution of the United States and 
the Constitution of the State of Idaho, and that I will faithfully dis 
charge the duties of Senator (or Representative as the case may be) ac- 
cording to the best of my ability." And such oath may be administered 
by the Governor, Secretary of State, or Judge of the Supreme Court, 
or presiding officer of either house. 

. The oath is generally administered to the members of 

either house in a body, by the Chief Justice, and it is a very 

imposing, even solemn spectacle to behold. 

ARTICLE IV. EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 

Section 1. The Executive Department shall consist of a Governor, 
Lieutenant-Governor. Secretary of State, State Auditor, State Treas- 
urer, Attorney General and Superintendent of Public Instruction, each 
of whom shall hold his office for two years beginning on the first Mon- 
day in January next after his election, except as otherwise provided in 
this Constitution. 

The officers of the Executive Department, excepting the Lieutenant- 
Governor, shall during their terms of office, reside at the seat of gov- 
ernment, where they shall keep the public records, books and papers. 
They shall perform such duties as are prescribed by this Constitution 
and as may be prescribed by law. 

As we shall learn in Sec. 5, of this Article, the supreme 
executive power of the State is vested in the Governor. 
The other officers provided for in this section compose the 
Governor's Cabinet, and, like the members of the Presi- 
dent's Cabinet are, each, at the head of a distinct branch of 
the Executive Department, 

Sec. 2. The officers named in Section 1 of this Article shall be 
elected by the qualified electors of the State at the time and places of 
voting for members of the Legislature, and the persons, respectively, 
having the highest number of votes for the office voted for shall be 
elected, but if two or more shall have an equal and the highest number 
of votes for any one of said offices, the two houses of the Legislature at 
its next regular session, shall forthwith by joint ballot, elect one of such 
persons for said office. 

The returns of election for the officers named in Section 1 shall be 
made in such manner as may be prescribed by law, and all contested 
elections of the same, other than provided for in this section, shall be 
determined as may be prescribed by law. 

All State officers except Judges of the Supreme and Dis- 
trict Courts are elected for two years in the even numbered 
years, together with the election for Congressman, and the 



34 

presidential election in the leap years. If there is a tie vote 
for any of the offices mentioned in Section i of this Article 
it devolves upon the Legislature to elect one of the candi- 
dates by joint ballot, but if two or more persons have an 
equal and the highest number of votes for member of the 
Legislature, or for any State office not mentioned in Section 
i of this Article, then the State Board of Canvassers deter- 
mines bv lot which of the candidates shall be declared elected. 
(See vSec. to, Art. XXL) 

Sec. 3. No person shall be eligible to the office of Governor or Lieu- 
tenant-Governor unless he shall have attained the age of thirty years 
at the time of his election; nor to the office of Secretary of State, State 
Auditor, Superintendent of Public Instruction, or State Treasurer un- 
less he shall have attained the age of twenty-five years; nor to the office 
of Attorney General unless he shall have attained the age of thirty 
years, and have been admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of the 
State or Territory of Idaho, and be in good standing at the time of his 
election. In addition to the qualifications above described each of the 
officers named shall be a citizen of the United States and shall have re- 
sided within the State or Territory two years next preceding his elec- 
tion. 

The qualifications here prescribed relate to age, citizen- 
ship and residence, with one exception, the Attorney Gen- 
eral must have been admitted to practice in the Supreme 
Court of the State. The President and Vice-President of 
the United States are required to be native citizens but in 
Idaho a foreigner may become Governor if he is a natural- 
ized citizen of the United States. 

Sec. 4. The Governor shall be commander-in-chief of the military 
forces of the State, except when they shall be called into actual service 
of the United States. He shall have power to call out the militia to 
execute the laws, to suppress insurrection, or to repel invasion. 

As the President is commander-in-chief of the military 
forces of the United States, so is the Governor commander- 
in-chief of the military forces of the State. Idaho has no 
naval force, and being an inland State will never require 
any. 

The military forces of the State consist in time of peace, 
of the various volunteer companies which are organized 



under the State military laws, and all able bodied male citi- 
zens between the ages of 18 and 45, not especially exempt 
from military duty, Ninety-seven men may form a volun- 
teer company. 

It costs nothing to belong to such a company; uniforms 
and equipments are furnished by the State, and members 
are exempt from poll tax and jury duty. In time of war, or 
when there is an insurrection or invasion, the Governor may 
call out these companies, and wdien these are insufficient he 
may call upon the militia for volunteers. If these are still 
insufficient, soldiers may be drafted and compelled to enlist 
and serve. 

When the soldiers of the State are in the service of the 
United States the President is commander-in-chief, but 
Clause 16 of Sec. 8, Art. I, of the Federal Constitution still 
reserves to the State the right of appointing the officers over 
the troops sent. 

Sec. 5. The supreme executive power of the State is vested in the 
Governor, who shall see that the laws are faithfully executed. 

Experience has shown that it is best to vest the executive 
power in a single person. Consultation is necessary in the 
making of laws> and it is best to have a numerous Legislature. 
But when laws are made, they only remain to be enforced. 
It is not for the executive officer to deliberate upon the wis- 
dom or expediency of the laws. He must execute them as 
he finds them enacted by the Legislature. What is most de- 
sired in the Executive Department is promptitude and decis- 
ion. And this, it is evident', is most likely to be secured 
when the executive authority is limited to one person. Also, 
when the executive pgwer is vested in one individual it will 
increase the responsibility, and since the eyes of the people 
will be constantly on a single object, there will be much less 
temptation to depart from duty, and a much greater solici- 
tude for reputation. 

Sec. 6. The Governor shall nominate and, by and with the consent 
of the Senate, appoint all officers whose offices are established by this 



30 

Constitution or which may be created by law and whose appointment 
or election is not otherwise provided for. If, during the recess of the 
Senate, a vacancy occurs in any State or District office, the Governor 
shall appoint some fit person to discharge the duties thereof until the 
next meeting of the Senate, when he shall nominate some person to fill 
such office. If the office of a Justice of the Supreme or District Court. 
Secretary of State, State Auditor, State Treasurer, Attorney General, 
or Superintendent of Public Instruction shall be vacated by death, re- 
signation or otherwise it shall be the duty of the Governor to fill the 
same by appointment, and the appointee shall hold his office until his 
successor shall be elected and qualified in such manner as may be pro- 
vided by law. 

Like the President of the United States, the Governor has 
the power to make nominations. All the State officers whose 
election or appointment is not otherwise provided for, are 
nominated by the Governor, but the Senate has the power 
to ratify or reject such nominations. If vacancies occur in 
any of the offices mentioned the Governor fills such vacancy 
by temporary appointment until the next session of the 
Senate. 

Sec. 7. The Governor, Secretary of State, and Attorney General 
shall constitute a board to be known as the Board of Pardons. Said 
board, or a majority thereof, shall have power to remit fines and for- 
feitures, and to grant commutations and pardons after conviction and 
judgment, either absolutely or upon such condition as they may impose, 
in all cases of offenses against the State except treason or conviction on 
impeachment. The Legislature shall by law prescribe the session of said 
board and the manner in which application shall be made and regulate 
the proceedings thereon; but no fine or forfeiture shall be remitted and 
no commutation or pardon granted, except by the decision of a majority of 
said board, after a full hearing in open session, and until previous notice 
of the time and place of such hearing and the release applied for shall 
have been given by publication in some newspaper of general circula- 
tion, at least once a week for four weeks. The proceedings and decision 
of the board shall be reduced to writing and with their reasons for their 
action in each case, and the dissent of any member who may disagree, 
signed by him, and filed, with all papers used upon the hearing, in the 
office of the Secretary of State. The Governor shall have power to grant 
respites or reprieves in all cases of convictions for offenses against the 
State except treason or conviction on impeachment, but such respites 
or reprieves shall not extend beyond the next session of the Board of 
Pardons; and such board shall at such session continue or determine 
such respite or reprieve, or they may commute or pardon the offense, as 
herein provided. In cases of conviction for treason the Governor shall 
have the power to suspend the execution of the sentence until the case 



shall be reported to the Legislature at its next regular session, when 
the Legislature shall either pardon or commute the sentence, direct its 
execution, or grant a further reprieve. He shall communicate to the 
Legislature, at each regular session, each case of remission of fine or 
forfeiture, reprieve, commutation, or pardon granted since the last pre- 
vious report, stating the name of the convict, the crime of which he was 
convicted, the sentence and its date, and the date of remission, commu- 
tation, pardon, or reprieve with the reasons for granting the same, and 
the objections, if any, of any member of the board made thereto. 

In the most perfect administration of laws, mistakes will 
occur, and it is absolutely necessary to have this last resort 
to rectify them. Often, even when there is no mistake, the 
strict rules of law as administered by the courts, prescribe 
a punishment more severe than the crime deserves, and it 
would be unmerciful indeed, to deprive the unfortunate 
criminal of his resort to an appeal for a commutation of his 
sentence. 

In the national government the pardoning power is vested 
solely in the President, and in many States in the Governor. 
But in Idaho the Governor can only grant respites or re- 
prieves delaying the execution of the sentence until the next 
session of the Board of Pardons. As provided by law said 
board holds four sessions for the hearing of petitions for 
pardons. 

A commutation is a change from a heavier to a lighter 
sentence. A pardon is an entire remission of a sentence; it 
restores the criminal to his civil rights. 

The Board of Pardons may remit fines and forfeitures, 
grant commutations and pardons in all cases except treason, 
or conviction on impeachment. 

The latter is only a political punishment (Sec. 3, Art. V.) 
while the former is so grave an offense that it can only be 
pardoned by the Legislature. 

Sec. 8. The Governor may require information in writing from the 
officers of the Executive Department upon any subject relating to the 
duties of their respective offices, which information shall be given upon 
oath whenever so required; he may also require information in writing, 
at any time, under oath, from all officers and managers of State institu- 
tions, upon any subject relating to the condition, management and ex- 



38 

peases of their respective offices and institutions, and may at any time 
he deems it necessary, appoint a committee to investigate and report to 
him upon the condition of any executive office or State institution. 

The Governor shall at the commencement of each session, and from 
time to time, by message, give to the Legislature information of the 
condition of the State, and shall recommend such measures as he shall 
deem expedient. He shall also send to the Legislature a statement, 
with vouchers, of the expenditures of all moneys belonging to the State 
and paid out by him. 

He shall also, at the commencement of each session, present esti- 
mates of the amount of money required to be raised bv taxation for all 
purposes of the State. 

The Governor is the chief executive, and the other offices 
are branches of the executive power. The Governor speaks 
and acts through the heads of these departments in reference 
to business committed te them. Though, from the very 
nature of this organization it must result that the Governor 
has power to ask for information from the heads of the dif- 
ferent departments, yet to put the matter beyond all dispute 
he is by this section expressly empowered to require such 
information in writing and, when deemed necessary, under 
oath. Not only from the officers of the Executive Depart- 
ment, but from the heads of all the State institutions may 
he thus require information. Having all these sources and 
means of information, the Governor has a bird's-eye view, as 
it were, of the government of the State, and in the best 
position to notice defects, hence to recommend remedies, 
which he is required to do in his message to the Legislature 
at the beginning of the session. 

Sec. 9. The Governor may, on extraordinary occasions, convene the 
Legislature by proclamation, stating the purposes for which he has con- 
vened it; but when so convened it shall have no power to legislate on 
any subjects other than those specified in the proclamation, but may 
provide for the expenses of the session and other matters incidental 
thereto. He may also, by proclamation, convene the Senate in extraor- 
dinary session for the transaction of executive business. 

The power to convene the Legislature in special session 
is indispensible to the proper operations and even the safety 
of the government. Occasions may occur in the recess of 
the Legislature requiring the government to take rigorous 



39 

measures to repel foreign aggressions, to suppress insurrec- 
tions and to provide for innumerable other exigencies that 
may arise. The purposes for which he has called them 
together the Governor states in his message, and when the 
Legislature has fulfilled these purposes it must adjourn. 

Sec. 10. Every bill passed by the Legislature shall, before it be- 
comes a law. be presented to the Governor. 

If he approve, he shall sign it, and thereupon it shall become a law; 
but if he do not approve, he shall return it with his objections to the 
house in which it originated, which house shall enter the objection at 
large upon its journals and proceed to reconsider the bill. If then two- 
thirds of the members present agree to pass the same it shall be sent, 
together with the objections s to the other house, by which it shall like- 
wise be reconsidered; and if approved by two-thirds of the members 
present in that house, it shall become a law T , notwithstanding the objec- 
tions of the Governor. In all such cases the vote of each house shall 
be determined by yeas and nays, to be entered on the journal. Any bill 
which shall not be returned by the Governor to the Legislature within 
five days. (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him. 
shall become a law in like manner, as if he had signed it, unless the 
Legislature shall by adjournment prevent its return, in which case it 
shall be riled, with his objections, in the office of the Secretary of State 
within ten days after such adjournment (Sundays excepted) or become 
a law. 

This section with a few changes is taken from Sec. 7, 
Art. I, of the Constitution of the United States. 

Article II of the Constitution provides, as we have seen, 
that the three departments of government shall be distinct; 
and no officer of one shall exercise any power belonging to 
another of these departments, except as by the Constitution 
directed or permitted. This section provides for one of those 
exceptions, for here the Governor is empowered to partici- 
pate in Legislation. 

If a bill has passed both houses it is sent to the Governor. 
If he approves of the bill he signs it and it becomes a law. 
But if he disapproves of it, he writes out his reasons for 
disapproving of it and sends the bill together with such writ- 
ten objections back to the house in which it originated. 
This power of disapproving and returning at>ill is called the 
veto power. 



40 

When a bill is thus returned, that house reconsiders it, 
and if two-thirds of the members present vote for it, it is 
sent together with the Governor's objections to the other 
house. If it there likewise secures a two-thirds vote it be- 
comes a law, the Governor's objections notwithstanding. 

In England the sovereign's veto is absolute, so that a bill 
once vetoed cannot be reconsidered by the Legislature. But 
it is so odious a power that, it is said, not to have been used 
for nearly two hundred years. 

In some States the executive has no veto at all, and in the 
others and in the United States he has only a qualified veto 
as has our Governor. 

The President of the United States has ten days in which 
to consider a bill that h^s been passed by Congress. Our 
Governor has only five in which to return a bill that he 
wishes to veto, unless the Legislature adjourns, in which 
case he has ten days time to veto it; and if he fails to do so 
in that time it becomes a law without his signature. 

This latter provision differs from the provision in the 
federal Constitution, in that, there the bill is lost or 
"pocketed" when Congress adjourns and the President 
neither signs nor vetoes it. Thus, there are three ways in 
which a bill may be lost: i, It may fail to get a majority 
in either house; 2, It may be vetoed by the Governor and 
not secure the required two-thirds vote on reconsideration 
by either house; or 3, It may be vetoed by the Governor 
and filed with his objections in the office of the Secretary of 
State within ten days after the Legislature has adjourned. 

And there are four ways in which a bill may become 
a law : 1 , It may be passed by both houses of the Legisla- 
ture and signed by the Governor; or 2, It may pass both 
houses, be vetoed by the Governor, but be passed over his 
veto by a two- thirds majority of each house; or 3, Having 
passed both houses and the Governor fails to sign or veto it 
within five days (when these are not at the close of the ses- 



41 

sion); or 4, Having passed both houses, the Legislature ad- 
journs and the Goveruor fails to veto and file it with the 
Secretary of State within ten days after such adjournment. 

Sec. 11. The Governor shall have power to disapprove of any item or 
items of any bill making appropriations of money embracing distinct 
items, and the part or parts approved shall become a law and the item or 
items disapproved shall be void unless enacted in the manner following: 
If the Legislature be in session, he shall within five days transmit to the 
house within which the bill originated a copy of the item or items 
thereof disapproved, together with his objections thereto, and the items 
objected to shall be separately rtconsidered, and each item shall then 
take the same course as is prescribed for the passage of bills over the 
executive veto. 

This provision is not found in the Federal Constitution, 
but it is found in the Constitutions of many of the States. 

Sec. 12. In case of the failure to qualify, the impeachment, or con- 
viction of treason, felony, or other infamous crime of the Governor, or 
his death, removal from office, resignation, absence from the State, or 
inability to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the powers, 
duties and emoluments of the office for the residue of the term, or until 
the disability shall cease, shall devolve upon the Lieutenant-Governor. 

This section provides for two kinds of vacancies in the 
office of Governor. First, when the Governor goes tempor- 
arily out of office, and, second, when he is permanently out. 
If the Governor fails to qualify, is impeached and convicted, 
or convicted of felony, treason, or dies or resigns, he is per- 
manently out of office, and the Lieutenant-Governor takes 
his place for the residue of the term. If the Governor is 
impeached, he is suspended from office until acquitted, or if 
he is sick, or insane, or absent from the State, the Lieuten- 
ant-Governor holds the office only until the disability 
is removed. 

Sec. 13. The Lieutenant-Governor shall be president of the Senate, 
but shall vote only when the Senate is equally divided. In case of the 
absence or disqualification of the Lieutenant-Governor from any cause 
which applies to the Governor, or when he shall hold the office of Gov- 
ernor then the president pro-tempore of the Senate shall perform 
the duties of the Lieutenant-Governor until the vacancy is filled or the 
disability removed. 



Just as the Vice-President is president of the United States 
Senate, so the Lieutenant-Governor is president of the Sen- 
ate. 

Since he must come from one of the senatorial districts of 
the State, he has ordinarily no vote, else that district would 
have a double vote; but when there is a tie vote on any ques- 
tion he has the deciding, or casting vote. Another reason 
why the Lieutenant-Governor has no vote excepting in case 
of tie, is because he is not a member of the Senate. He is 
an officer of the executive department. 

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, being a mem- 
ber of that body, has a vote on all questions before it, but 
has no additional, casting vote. 

When the Lieutenant-Governor acts as Governor, the 
Senate elects one of its members as president pro-tempore., 
The president pro-tempore retains his vote as member, but 
has no additional casting vote. 

Sec. 14. In case of the failure to qualify in his office, death, resig- 
nation, absence from the State, impeachment, conviction of treason, fel 
ony or other infamous crime, or disqualification from any cause, of both 
Governor and Lieutenant-Governor, the duties of the Governor shall 
devolve upon the president of the Senate pro-tempore, until such dis 
qualification of either the Governor or Lieutenant-Governor be removed, 
or the vacancy filled; and if the president of the Senate, for any of the 
above named causes^ shall become incapable of performing the duties 
of Governor, the same shall devolve upon the speaker of the House. 

The United States Constitution does not provide for fill- 
ing the vacancy in case both President and Vice-President 
shall be out of office; but by law it is provided that in that 
event the president pro-tempore shall act as chief executive., 
So in Idaho, but here it is provided by the Constitution 
itself. 

Both here and in the federal government the president 
pro-tempore acts only until the vacancy can be filled. 

The Lieutenant-Governor succeeds to the residue of the 
term, but when the president pro-tempore acts as chief ex- 
ecutive in case of permanent removal from office of both 



43 

Governor and Lieutenant-Governor a special election must 
be held, and a new Governor elected. 

Sec. 15. There shall be a seal of this State, which shall be kept by 
the Secretary of State and used by him officially, and shall be called 
"The Great Seal of the State of Idaho." The seal of the Territory of 
Idaho, as now used, shall be the seal of the State until otherwise pro- 
vided by law. 

In mediaeval times, when illiteracy was very common, 
nearly every one had a seal, which was affixed instead of a 
signature, to a document. Now private seals are almost 
entirely out of use; but the law requires certain public officers 
to have seals and to affix them to certain papers. This sec- 
tion requires that the State have a seal, to be called "The 
Great Seal of the State of Idaho. ' ' 

Sec. 16. All grants and permissions shall be in the name and by 
the authority of the State of Idaho, sealed with the Great Seal of the 
State, signed by the Governor, and countersigned by the Secretary of 

State. 

All grants, such as patents for lands and charters to cor- 
porations, all appointments to office, etc. , are issued in the 
name of the State of Idaho, and must have, not only the sig- 
natures of the Governor and Secretary of State, but the 
Great Seal of the State, because that is the symbol the State 
uses as its signature. 

Sec. 17. An account shall be kept by the officers of the executive 
department and of all public institutions of the State of all moneys re 
ceived by them severally, from all sources, and for every service per^ 
formed, and of all moneys disbursed by them severally, and a semi-an- 
nual report thereof shall be made to the Governor, under oath; they 
shall also, at least twenty days preceding each regular session of the 
Legislature, make full and complete reports of their official transactions 
to the Governor, who shall transmit the same to the Legislature. 

In Section 8 of this Article we saw that the Governor may 
at any time ask for information in writing and under oath, 
from all the officers of State institutions upon subjects relat- 
ing to their respective offices. 

This section requires that an account be kept of money re- 
ceived and expended and services performed by such officers, 
and report of the same made to the Governor. This serves 



two purposes, first it gives to the Governor necessary infor- 
mation which he is required (Sec. 8) to send to the Legisla- 
ture, and upon which to base his estimates of the amount of 
money to be raised by taxation to meet the expenses of the 
State; and, second, it gives him an insight into the manage- 
ment of the State's institutions; such as the Uuiversity, the 
Normal Schools and the Penitentiary. 

Sec. 18. The Governor, Secretary of State, and Attorney General 
shall constitute a Board of State PrisonCommissioners, which Board shall 
have such supervision of all matters connected with the State prison as 
may be prescribed by law. They shall also constitute a Board of Exam- 
iners, with power to examine all claims against the State, except salaries 
or compensation of officers fixed by law, and perform such other duties* 
as may be prescribed by law. And no claim against the State y except 
salaries and compensation of officers fixed by law. shall be passed upon 
by the Legislature without first having been considered and acted upon 
by said Board. 

The Board of Prison Commissioners meets every three 
months; they appoint the warden and the necessary guards 
for the penitentiary; give reward of time for good conduct of 
prisoners; may offer reward for the capture of escaped con- 
victs, and make contracts for the furnishing of supplies to 
the penitentiary. 

The same officers who constitute the Board of Prison 
Commissioners also constitute the Board of Examiners. 

They meet once every month. All claims against the 
State, except salaries of officers, must be presented to said 
Board before the Legislature will act upon them. 

It is much more convenient for a body of three men to inves- 
tigate a claim against the State than for a more numerous 
body, such as the Legislature ; and under this arrangement 
the State has the benefit of the double investigation, first by 
the Board of Examiners, and next by the Legislature, thus- 
insuring against any unfounded claim being paid out of the 
public treasury. 

Sec. 19. The Governor, Secretary of State,. State Auditor, State 
Treasurer, Attorney General, and Superintendent of Public Instruction 
shall quarterly as due,, during their continuance in office, receive for 
their services compensation, which for the term, next ensuing after the 



m 

adoption of this Constitution, is fixed as follows': Governor, three 
thousand dollars per annum; Secretary of State, one thousand eight 
hundred dollars per annum; State Auditor, one thousand eight 
hundred dollars per annum; State Treasurer, one thousand dollars per 
annum; Attorney General, two thousand dollars per annum; and Super- 
intendent of Public Instruction, one thousand five hundred dollars per 
annum. The Lieutenant-Governor shall receive the same per diem as 
may be provided by law for the Speaker of the House of Representa- 
tives, to be allowed only during the session of the Legislature. The 
compensations enumerated shall be in full for all services by said offi- 
cers respectively, rendered in any official capacity or employment what- 
ever during their respective terms of office. 

No officer named in this section shall receive for the performance of 
any official duty any fee for his own use, but all fees fixed by law for 
the performance by either of them of any official duty shall be collected 
in advance and deposited with the State Treasurer quarterly to the 
credit of the State, The Legislature may, by law, diminish or increase 
the compensation of any or all of the officers named in this section, but 
no such diminution or increase shall affect the salaries of the officers 
then in office during their term: Provided, however, The Legislature 
may provide for the payment of actual and necessary expenses of the 
Governor^ Lieutenant-Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, 
and Superintendent of Public Instruction, while traveling within the 
State in the performance of official duty. 

The salaries of the executive officers as here fixed have not 
yet been changed, 

The Governor is allowed $900,00 for a clerk, and a cer- 
tain sum for postal expenses, telegraphing, stationery and 
printing, traveling and incidentals. 

The Secretary of State is allowed $1800,00 for a clerk; 
the Auditor $1400.00; the Treasurer $1000. 00; the Attorney 
General $900.00; the Superintendent of Public Instruction 
$900.00; and each of these officers, like the Governor, is 
allowed a certain sum for perquisites. 

In Section 23 of Article III, it is provided that presiding 
officers of the Legislature shall each receive an additional 
compensation equal to one- half their per diem as members, 
and the clause limiting the aggregate compensation for each 
member to three hundred dollars a session does not pertain 
to the presiding officers. So that the compensation of the 
Lieutenant-Governor is $7.50 a day for as manv days as the 
Legislature remains in session. (See Sec. 27, Art. V.) 



46 
ARTICLE V. JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT. 

Section 1. The distinction between actions at law and suits in 
equity, and the forms of all such actions and suits, are hereby prohib 
ited; and there shall be in this State but one form of action for the en- 
forcement or protection of private rights or the redress of private wrongs, 
which shall be denominated a civil action; and every action prosecuted 
by the people of the State as a party against a person charged with a 
public offense for the punishment of the same, shall be termed a crim^ 
nal action. Feigned issues are prohibited, and the fact at issue shall be 
tried by order of court before a jury. 

Law, in one sense, may be defined to be rules of action 
prescribed by the supreme authority in a State. 

But in the great commercial and business enterprises, in 
political and social affairs of the world, circumstances and 
cases will arise in which these rules are either inadequate to 
do justice, or if carried out to the letter, will be entirely too 
harsh and rigid. To remedy this there grew up in England 
the custom of applying to the king for relief. This practice 
soon became to be regularly resorted to in certain cases, and 
the applications soon became so numerous that it was found 
necessary to establish special courts to hear and determine 
them. These courts were called chancery, or equity courts. 
The relief given by these courts, and the manner of proced- 
ure in determining causes, was different than that in courts 
of law; so that there gradually grew up a separate and dis- 
tinct branch of the law known as equity. 

This system was adopted by many of the American states s . 
and is still followed in the United States courts, and in those 
of some of the states. But in our State we have but one 
system of courts which have jurisdiction both in law and 
equity, and the form of action, and the manner of procedure 
in cases both at law and in equity, are the same. 

An action carried on by one person against another, for 
whatever cause, is a civil action. Those prosecuted by the 
State against a person for the violation of a public law are 
criminal actions in which the manner of procedure is as we 
have seen in Sec. 8, Art. I, of this Constitution. 



At common law, to escape some of its onerous require- 
ments suits were sometimes instituted against persons who 
did not at all exist, or against irresponsible persons who were 
not at all interested in the matter. Such, for example, was 
a practice often resorted to for conveying land which could 
then not be done by deed as we do in our day. Did the 
limits of this book permit, it were interesting to discuss this 
subject further. Those who wish to know more about this 
subject of fictitious or feigned actions, are referred to Black- 
stone 5 s Commentaries where they are clearly explained. A 
jury decides the facts, and the court determines the law r and 
applies it to the facts as found by the jury. 

Sec. 2. The judicial power of the State shall be vested in a court 
for the trial of impeachments, a supreme court, district courts, probate 
courts, courts of justices of the peace, and such other courts inferior to 
the Supreme Court as may be established by law for any incorporated 
city or town. 

The United States Constitution provides only a supreme 
court and leaves to Congress the power to establish other 
inferior courts. In Idaho all the courts of the State, except 
police courts, are established by this Constitution, and the 
Legislature can create no others. 

Sec. 3. The court for the trial of impeachments shall be the Senate. 
A majority of the members elected shall be necessary to a quorum, and 
the judgment shall not extend beyond removal from, and disqualifica 
tion to hold office in this State.; but the party shall be liable to indict- 
ment and punishment according to law. 

When the Senate tries impeachments it is not a legisla- 
tive body, but a court of justice. Only civil officers can be 
impeached. Private citizens cannot, neither can military 
officers be impeached. And it has been decided that a 
member of the Legislature is not a civil officer and cannot 
be impeached, though he may, as we have seen (Sec. n, 
Art. Ill) be expelled. 

Officers may be impeached for political offenses only, and, 
if the nature of their wrong is also a violation of the criminal 
law, may, after impeachment, be indicted, tried and pun- 



ished as other citizens. Since impeachment is for political 
offenses only, it follows that persons impeached and con- 
victed must receive only political punishment. It may be 
removal from office only, or it may be both removal and 
disqualification ever after to hold office in this State. 

Sec. 4. The House of Representatives solely shall have the power of 
impeachment, No person shall be convicted without the concurrence of 
two-thirds of the Senators elected. When the Governor is impeached 
the Chief Justice shall preside. 

As a grand jury is empowered to prefer a presentment 
against a criminal, or one suspected of crime, so the House 
of Representatives is empowered to prefer articles of im- 
peachment against civil officers. In the preceding section 
we noticed that it requires a majority of the Senators elected 
to constitute a quorum, 

But, though a majority is a sufficient number to do busi- 
ness, this section provides that two- thirds of all the Senators 
elected must concur to convict. This is an additional safe- 
guard against partisan convictions and removals. 

There are two reasons why the Lieutenant-Governor should 
not preside when the Governor is impeached. First, when 
the Governor is impeached the Lieutenant-Governor is act- 
ing Governor, and cannot hold both officesat the same time; 
and, second, there is danger that he would not be as impar- 
tial as a presiding officer should be for it might be to his 
interest that the Governor be convicted. 

Sec. 5. Treason against the State shall consist only in levying war 
against it, or adhering to its enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No 
person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two wit- 
nesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court. No con- 
viction of treason or attainder shall work corruption of blood or forfeit- 
ure of estate. 

This section is taken verbatim from Sec, 3, Art, III of 
the Federal Constitution, changing only the words United 
States to State and leaving off a few words in the last sen- 
tence. 

Treason is the highest crime that can be committed against 
society, fork aims at the destruction of the government itself. 



40 

History had taught the framers of the Constitution of the 
United States that it was well to have a fixed definition of 
treason. In early times in England, it was left, in the dis- 
cretion of the judges to determine what acts constituted 
treason, and as these judges were often the instruments of 
tyrannical rulers, persons were sometimes punished for this 
odious crime when they did not at all suspect that their acts 
could be construed to be treason. To stop this, a statute 
was passed in the reign of King Edward III, which defined 
treason. From that statute our definition is adopted. 

Under this definition, treason against the State can only 
be committed by levying war against it, or by adhering to 
its enemies, giving them aid and comfort. 

During peace, then, it requires an actual levying of war, 
that is, a body of men must be assembled for the purpose of 
effecting by force a treasonable purpose, to amount to treason. 
A conspiracy to overthrow the government, would not be 
treason. 

But when the state is at war, treason is more easily com- 
mitted, . for then any aid given to its enemies would be 
treason. Such, for example, would be the selling to the 
enemy of food, munitions of war, ships, or anything that 
would aid or further the enemy's cause. So it has been said, 
would it be treason should one accept pay from enemies for 
goods which they had previously seized. To convict of 
treason requires the testimony of two witnesses to the same 
overt, that is, open act, or a confession in open court. In 
our State conviction or attainder of treason does not work 
forfeiture of property or corruption of blood. In this, this 
section differs from the third section of Art. Ill, of the Fed- 
eral Constitution, where it is provided that such conviction 
or attainder of treason may work corruption of blood and for- 
feiture of property during the life of the traitor, but must 
cease on his death. 

Sec. 6. The Supreme Court shall consist of three justices, a majority 
of whom shall be necessary to make a quorum or pronounce a decision. 



50 

The Justices of the Supreme Court shall be elected by the electors of 
the State at large. The terms of office of the Justices of the Supreme 
Court except as in this article otherwise provided, shall be six years, 
The Justices of the Supreme Court shall, immediately after the first 
election under this Constitution, be selected by lot, so that one shall 
hold his office for the term of two years, one for the term of four years* 
and one for the term of six years. The lots shall be drawn by the Jus- 
tices of the Supreme Court, who shall, for that purpose, assemble at the 
seat of government and they shall cause the result thereof to be certi- 
fied to by the Secretary of State and filed in his office. The Justice 
having the shortest term to serve, not holding his office by appointment 
or election to fill a vacancy, shall be the Chief Justice, and shall preside 
at ail terms of the Supreme Court, and, in case of his absence, the Jus* 
tice having in like manner the next shortest term to serve shall preside 
in his stead. 

The Constitution of the United States provides for a Su- 
preme Court, but leaves its organization to Congress. 

This section of our State Constitution not only provides 
for a Supreme Court, but also prescribes its organization. 

The manner of deciding the terms of the first Justices is 
similar to the manner prescribed by the Federal Constitu- 
tion for determining the terms of the first Senators (Art. I, 
Sec. 3, U. S. Cons.) 

Sec. 7. No Justice of the Supreme Court shall be eligible to any 
other office of trust or profit under the laws of this State during the 
term for which he was elected. 

That the judges may be removed from the temptation for 

partiality and may give their undivided attention to their 

duties as judges they are forbidden to hold any other office 

under the State during the terms for which they were elected. 

Sec. 8. At least four terms of the Supreme Court shall be held an 
nually; two terms at the seat of the State government, and two terms 
at the City of Lewiston in Nez Perce County. In case of epidemic, 
pestilence, or destruction of court houses, the Justices may hold the 
terms of the Supreme Court provided by this section at other conven- 
ient places, to be fixed by a majority of said Justices. After six years 
the Legislature may alter the provisions of this section. 

The provisions of this section have not yet been altered, 

The court itself fixes the time of the different sessions. 

Sec. 9. The Supreme Court shall have jurisdiction to review, upon 
appeal, any decision of the District Courts, or the Judges thereof. The 
Supreme Court shall also have original jurisdiction to issue writs of 



mandamus, certiorari, prohibition and habeas corpus, and all writs 
necessary or proper to the complete exercise of its appellate jurisdic- 
tion. 

The Supreme Court has two kinds of jurisdiction, origi- 
nal and appellate. Any party to an action who is dissatisfied 
with a decision of a District Court may appeal to the Su- 
preme Court. If the Supreme Court finds that the District 
Court erred in its decision, either by mistaking the law, or 
by rendering a judgment which is not warranted by the evi- 
dence, it will reverse the decision. If no mistake appears, 
the decision will be affirmed. This is the appellate jurisdic- 
tion of the Supreme Court. 

No suit can be originally begun or tried in this court, but 
it may issue the following writs: 

Mandamus, (we command) w r hich is a writ directed to an 
officer commanding him to do certain things which he re- 
fuses or neglects to do, but which it is his duty to do. For 
instance, if a Judge should refuse to hear a cause which was 
properly in his jurisdiction, the Supreme Court would issue 
a writ of mandamus and compel the Judge to proceed with 
the trial. 

2. Certiorari, is a writ issued by a higher to a lower 
court, or board or officer, exercising judicial functions, re- 
quiring such court, board or officer to certify the record of 
the proceedings to the higher court for review. 

The higher court then determines whether the lower 
tribunal, board or officer has regularly pursued the author- 
ity given to such tribunal, board or officer, and may affirm 
or annul the proceedings. 

3. Prohibition or writ of injunction, which forbids certain 
things to be done, which, if done, would cause injury which 
could not be remedied, or commands certain things to be 
done, the neglect of which would cause irreparable injury. 

4. In Section 5 of Art. I w r e discussed the habeas corpus 

writ so that it will not be necessary to do so here. 

Sec. 10. The Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction to hear 
claims against the State, but its decision shall be merely recommenda- 



52 

tory; no process in the nature of execution shall issue thereon; they 
shall be reported to the next session of the Legislature for its action. 

As we shall see (Sec. 13, Art. VII) no money can be 
drawn from the State treasury except in pursuance of a law 
passed for that special purpose. So that, though the Su- 
preme Court can hear and determine claims against the State, 
its decision, if in favor of the claim, must still be passed up- 
on by the Legislature in whose power it is to allow or dis- 
allow the claim as recommended by the Supreme Court. 

Sec. 11. The State shall be divided into five judicial districts, for 
each of which a Judge shall be chosen by the qualified electors thereof, 
whose term of office shall be four years. And there shall be held a Dis- 
trict Court in each county, at least twice in each year, to continue for 
such time in each county as may be prescribed by law; but the Legisla- 
ture may reduce or increase the number of districts, District Judges and 
District Attorneys. This section shall not be construed to prevent the 
holding of special terms under such regulations as may be provided by 
law. 

The provisions of this section have not yet been altered 
except that the office of District Attorney has been abolish- 
ed and the office of County Attorney created. (See Sec. 18, 
also Sec. 24.) 

Sec. 12. Every Judge of the District Court shall reside in the Dis- 
trict for which he is elected. A Judge of any District Court may hold 
a District Court in any county at the request of the Judge of the Dis- 
trict Court thereof, and upon the request of the Governor it shall be his 
duty to do so; but a cause in the District Court may be tried by a Judge 
pro-tempore, w T ho must be a member of the bar, agreed upon in writing 
by the parties litigant, or their attorneys of record, and sworn to try the 
cause. 

Every District Judge is required to reside in his district be- 
cause, even when he is not holding court, he may still be 
applied to for writs and orders and may even hear and de- 
termine certain other judicial business. This is known as 
the power of a judge at chambers, that is, in his room, not 
in court. 

When a District Judge is disqualified to try a cause as 
where he is related to one of the parties, or where has been 
attorney for one of the parties in the same matter, he may 



53 

ask the Judge of a neighboring district to come and try the 
case, and if such neighboring Judge refuse, he may be com- 
pelled to do so by the Governor; or, if the parties agree to it, 
a lawyer may be sworn to try the case as judge pro-tempore. 

Sec. 13. The Legislature shall have no power to deprive the Judicial 
Department of any power or jurisdiction which rightfully pertains to it 
as a co-ordinate department of the government; but the Legislature 
shall provide a proper system of appeals, and regulate by law. 
when necessary, the methods of proceeding in the exercise oc their pow- 
ers of all the courts below the Supreme Court, so far as the same may 
be done without conflict with this Constitution. 

It is the jurisdiction of the Legislature to pass laws, and 
though it is the highest and most sovereign of the three de- 
partments of our government it cannot usurp any of the 
powers belonging to the Judicial Department whose domain 
it is to construe the laws. The Legislative power is only 
limited by this Constitution and the laws and Constitution 
of the United States, but within its sphere the judicial is as 
absolute as either the Legislative or the Executive Depart- 
ment, and any interference with its powers by either of the 
other departments would be illegal and void. But it is obvious 
that it will not abridge any of the functions of the courts to 
prescribe the proceedings therein, or the manner in which 
appeals from one court to another are to be taken, and this 
our Legislature has done. 

Sec. 14. Tne Legislature may provide for the establishment of spec- 
ial courts for the trial of misdemeanors in incorporated cities and towns 
where the same may be necessary. 

This is done by conferring in municipal charters the right 
and duty to establish such courts and by general law to all 
incorporated cities and towns. 

Every city of any considerable size has its own police of- 
fleers, whose duties are analogous to those of a Sheriff, and 
its court for the trial of minor offenses committed within its 
limits. 

Sec. 15. The Clerk of the Supreme Court shall be appointed by the 
court, and shall hold his office during the pleasure of the court. He 
shall receive such compensation for his services as may be provided by 
law. 



54 

It is the duty of clerks of all courts to keep the records of 

the court, With him are filed all necessary papers, which 

he must bring to the notice of the Judges. The salary of 

the Clerk of the Supreme Court now is $2500 a year. 

^Seo. 16. A Clerk of the District Court for each county shall be 
elected by the qualified voters thereof at the time and in the manner 
prescribed by law for the election of members of the Legislature, and 
shall hold his office for the term of four years. 

The Clerk of the District Court is ex-officio, that is, by 
virtue of his office, County Auditor. Under the amend- 
ment to the Constitution, ratified at the election of 1898, 
and under the law passed pursuant to said amendment, 
Clerks of District Courts now receive stated salaries, in- 
stead of fees, as theretofore. (See Amends. Sec. 7, 8, 9, 
Art. 18.) 

Sec. 17. The salary of the Justices of the Supreme Court, until 
otherwise provided by the Legislature, shall be three thousand dollars 
each per annum, and the salary of the Judges of the District Courts, 
until otherwise provided by the Legislature, shall be three thousand 
dollars each per annum, and no Justice of the Supreme Court, or Judge 
of the District Court, shall be paid his salary, or any part thereof, un- 
less he shall have first taken and subscribed an oath that there is not in 
his hands any matter in controversy not decided by him which had been 
finally submitted for his consideration and determination thirty days 
prior to the taking and subscribing such oath. 

Judges of the Supreme Court, and the District Judges still 
receive the same salary as is here provided for. And the 
Supreme Judges are by law allowed $1425.00 a year, addi- 
tional for incidental expenses such as postage, stationery, 
printing and traveling to Lewiston; and the District Judges 
are allowed each $500.00 a year for traveling expenses. 

If any District Judge neglect or refuse to attend to busi- 
ness before him he may be compelled to do so by a writ of 
mandamus from the Supreme Court, but nowhere is there 
any power vested to compel the Supreme Justices to do their 
work. They may be removed from office by impeachment, 
but there is no power to compel them to perform that which 
it is their duty to perform. So we see the propriety, of this 
provision requiring them to take oath that all matters which 



liave been submitted to them for final consideration, have 
been determined before they can draw any of their pay. To 
avoid the necessity of suing out a writ of mandamus, the Dis- 
trict Judges also are included in this provision. 

Sec. 18. A District Attorney shall be elected for each Judicial Dis- 
trict by the qualified electors thereof, who shall hold office for the term 
of four years, and perform such duties as may be prescribed by law. 
He shall be a practicing attorney-at-law and a resident and elector of 
the district. He shall receive as compensation for his services twenty- 
rive hundred dollars per annum. 

This section is now amended. The amendment as pro- 
posed by the Legislature of 1895, and ratified by the people 
in the general election of 1896 reads as follows: 

A prosecuting attorney shall be elected for each organized county in 
the State, by the qualified electors of such county and shall hold office 
for the term of two years, and shall perform such duties as may be pre- 
scribed by law; he shall be a practicing attorney-at-law, and a resident 
and elector of the county for which he is elected. He shall receive as 
compensation for his services a sum of not less than rive hundred dol- 
lars per annum nor more than fifteen hundred dollars per annum, to be 
fixed by the Board of Commissioners of the county, at its regular ses- 
sion in July next preceding any general election, and to be paid in 
quarterly installments out of the county treasury. 

The County Attorney is the public prosecutor. He has 
all the duties that the District Attorney had, with a few 
additional ones, but as his territory is so much smaller, he 
still has less work, hence, his salary is also reduced. It is 
his duty to prosecute or defend all actions in his District 
Court and in the Probate and Justices Courts of his county 
in which the State or the County is interested; must draw 
bills of indictment and informations; must give legal ad- 
vice to the County Commissioners when requested, and ex- 
amine witnesses before the grand jury. These duties are 
such, that of course, none but a practicing attorney can fill 
the office. Though this change is but quite recent and 
though we are only having our first set of County instead 
of District Prosecuting Attorneys, the wisdom of the amend- 
ment has already demonstrated itself. (See Amends. Sees. 
7, 8, 9, Art, 18. ) The judicial districts are so large, and 



56 

so much public business arises, that one man can not give 
each case the attention that it ought to receive. With one 
public prosecuting attorney in each county, this branch of 
our State government is now much more efficient. 

Sec. 19. All vacancies occurring in the offices provided for by this 
Article of the Constitution shall be filled as provided by law. 

Vacancies in the Supreme or District Courts are filled by 
appointments by the Governor until the next general elec- 
tion, when such vacancies are filled by election. That is, 
when a Judge is so appointed, he holds only until the next 
general election when one is elected who then holds for the 
unexpired term. Vacancies in Probate and Justices Courts 
are filled in like manner by the Board of County Commis- 
sioners. 

The District Attorney was a State officer, and a vacancy 

in that office would have been filled by an appointment by 

the Governor; but the County Attorney is a county officer 

and a vacancy in that office would be filled by the County 

Commissioners. 

Sec. 20. The District Court shall have original jurisdiction in all 
cases, both at law and in equity, and such appellate jurisdiction as may 
be conferred by law. 

The District Courts under this section have original but 
not exclusive jurisdiction in all cases. There is a great dif- 
ference. In the next two sections we shall see that there are 
certain cases which Probate and Justice Courts may hear 
and determine. But that does not preclude the District 
Court from also hearing those cases; they may be instituted 
in any one of these courts. This is what is meant by con- 
current jurisdiction. But the greater crimes and civil suits 
involving greater sums than the Probate or Justice Courts, 
have jurisdiction of, can only be prosecuted in the District 
Courts. This is the exclusive jurisdiction of the District 
Courts. 

Thus the original j urisdiction of the District Court extends 
to all cases, but its exclusive jurisdiction extends only over 



those cases that are not within the jurisdiction of the Pro- 
bate and Justice Courts. The appellate jurisdiction of the 
District Courts extends to all cases tried in the Probate or 
Justice Courts from which an appeal is allowed by law; 
and a case when so appealed, is tried anew. 

Sec. 21. The Probate Courts shall be Courts of Record, and shall have 
original jurisdiction in all matters of probate, settlement of estates of 
deceased persons, and appointment of guardians; also, jurisdiction to 
hear and determine all civil cases wherein the-debt or damage claimed 
does not exceed the sum of five hundred dollars, exclusive of interest, 
and concurrent jurisdiction with Justices of the Peace in criminal 
cases. 

All the courts of the State, except Justice and Municipal 
Courts, keep records of all proceedings therein. It is the 
duty of the Clerk of the court to keep this record. 

The original jurisdiction of Probate Courts extends to 
cases of wills and inheritance of property, of appointment 
of guardians of minor or incompetent persons and their es- 
tates, and administration of estates of deceased persons. In 
addition to this Probate jurisdiction, they have concurrent 
jurisdiction with Justice Courts in criminal matters, (the 
extent of which we shall see in the next section) and origi- 
nal jurisdiction in civil cases where the amount involved, 
exclusive of interest, does not exceed $500.00. 

Sec. 22. In each county of this State there shall be elected Justices 
of the Peace as prescribed by law. Justices of the Peace shall have 
such jurisdiction as may be conferred by law, but they shall not have 
jurisdiction of any cause wherein the value of the property or the amount 
in controversy exceeds the sum of three hundred dollars, exclusive of 
interest, nor where the boundaries or title to any real property shall be 
called in question. 

As at present prescribed by law a Justice of the Peace is 
elected and must hold court in every precinct of the State. 
The criminal jurisdiction of these courts extends only to the 
lesser crimes committed anywhere in their county, such as 
petit larceny, assault and battery, and misdemeanors that 
are punishable by a fine of not more than $300.00 or im- 
prisonment for not more than six months in the county jail. 
In civil cases where the amount in dispute is not more than 



58 

$300.00 including interest and where no title of real prop- 
erty is involved. Thus, we see, that their jurisdiction is 
very limited. 

Sec. 23. No person shall be eligible to the office of District Judge 
unless he be learned in the law, thirty-six years of age 7 and a citizen of 
the United States, and shall have resided in the State or Territory at 
least two years next preceding his election, nor unless he shall have been 
at the time of his election f an elector in the judicial district for which 
he is elected. 

The propriety of these qualifications must be apparent to 
all. It would be utterly impossible for any one not learned 
in the law to perform the duties of a District Judge, 

Considering the nature of the duties, the discretion re- 
quired, and the authority possessed, no one will doubt the 
prudence of the framers of our Constitution in prescribing a 
qualification of age. 

The age set for Judge of a District Court is one year more 
than that required of the President of the United States. 

Seo. 24. Until otherwise provided by law, the Judicial Districts 
shall be five in number, and constituted of the following counties, vizs 
First district, Shoshone and Kootenai; second district, Latah, Nez. 
Perce and Idaho; third district, Washington, Ada, Boise and Owyhee; 
fourth district. Cassia, Ehnore, Logan and A)turas;fifth district. Bear 
Lake, Bingham. Oneida, Lemhi and Custer. 

The number of the districts has not yet been changed but 
the counties constituting some of the districts have been 
changed T several times. With the increase of population the 
business of the District Courts necessarily also increases, and 
if ever the business of any or all the districts becomes too 
large for one judge, the Legislature will no doubt redistrict 
the State, 

As now provided for the first district comprises the coun- 
ties of Shoshone and Kootenai; the second comprises Latalu 
Nez Perce and Idaho; the third, Ada T Canyan, Boise, Owyhee 
and Washington; the fourth Blaine, Lincoln, Elmare,Cassia 
and Custer, and the fifth district comprises Bingham, Ban- 
nock, Bear Lake, Fremont, Lemhi and Oneida Counties, 

Sec. 25. The Judges of the District Courts shall, on or before the 
first day of July in each year r report in writing to the Justices of the- 



59 

Supreme Court, such defects or omissions in the laws as their knowledge 
and experience may suggest, and the Justices of the Supreme Court 
shall, on or before the first day of December of each year, report in 
writing to the Governor, to be by him transmitted to the Legislature, 
together with his message, such defects and omissions in the Constitu- 
tion and laws as they may find to exist. 

This is one of the best sources of information to the Gov- 
ernor. That it is a wise provision must be readily conced- 
ed, for who is so well situated to notice defects or omissions 
in the laws as are the Judges of the District Courts? The 
report of the District Judge is again reviewed by the Su- 
preme Court, so that should he mistake the law, the mis- 
take may be rectified and nothing erroneous or useless be 
sent to the Governor. The Governor transmits the report 
as presented to him by the Supreme Court, to the Legisla- 
ture, to whom it will afford a good basis upon which to 
frame laws. 

Sec. 26. All Jaws relating to courts shall be general and of uniform 
operation throughout the State, and the organized judicial powers, pro- 
ceedings and practices of all the courts of the same class or grade so far 
as regulated by law, and the force and effect of the proceedings, judg- 
ments, and decrees of such courts, severally, shall be uniform. 

There can be no object in giving to different courts of the 
same grade or class special or peculiar powers, or in pre- 
scribing special proceedings and to do so would be to create 
endless confusion, if not injustice. 

Our system of courts as provided for by this Constitution 
and the laws of the State is as well graded and as simple and 
effective as any system yet devised. Too simple a machine 
may not meet the requirements while the more complicated 
the machine, the more easily it gets out of order. 

Sec. v J7. The Legislature may by law diminish or increase the com 
pensation of any or all the following officers, to- wit: Governor, Lieuten- 
ant-Governor. Secretary of State, State Auditor, State Treasurer, At- 
torney General. Superintendent of Public Instruction. Commissioner of 
Immigration and Labor, Justices of the Supreme Court, Judges of the 
District Courts, and District Attorneys, but no diminution or increase 
shall affect the compensation of the officer then in office during his 
term: Provided, however, That the Legislature may provide for the 
payment of actual ar:d necessary expenses of the Governor, Secretary of 



GO 

Statb, Attorney General, and Superintendent of Public Instruction in- 
curred while in performance of official duty. 

What the salaries of the various officers are, and that they 
are allowed additional sums for expenses, we have seen in 
Sec. 19, Art. IV. This section provides that these salaries 
cannot be increased or diminished during the term for which 
the officers are elected, thus securing to each officer the full 
amount and no more, of the salary attached to the office 
when he stepped into it. If this were not so, if the Legis- 
lature could decrease the salaries at pleasure, few men could 
he induced to accept office. On the other hand, were it left 
in the pleasure of the Legislature to increase these salaries,, 
it might be a temptation for corruption. 

A control over a man's salary is in most cases a control 
over his actions. Experience has shown th?>t it insures the 
best public service to have a competent salary attached to 
every office and insured to the occupant. 

ARTICLE VI. SUFFRAGE AND ELECTIONS. 

Section 1. All elections by the people must be by ballot. An abso- 
lutely secret ballot is hereby guaranteed, and it shall be the duty of the 
Legislature to enact such laws as shall carry this section into effect. 

It will not be necessary here to explain the reasons for or 
advantages of a secret ballot; they must appear to every one 
on slight reflection. 

It is here made imperative upon the Legislature to adopt 

or provide a system of voting that insures a secret ballot. 

The best system now known is that called the l > Australian 

Ballot' ' system, which was adopted by the Legislature in 

1 89 1. It would be beyond the scope of this work to give a 

detailed account of that system; but it is the duty of every 

intelligent citizen to make himself or herself thoroughly 

familiar with the same. 

Sec. 2. Except as in this article otherwise provided, every male 
citizen of the United States, twenty-one years old, who has actually re- 
sided in the State or Territory for six months, and in the County where 
he offers to vote, thirty days next preceding the day of election, if reg- 
istered as provided by law. is a qualified elector; and until otherwise 



61 

provided by the Legislature, women who have the qualifications pre- 
scribed in this article, may continue to hold such school offices and vote 
at such school elections as provided by the laws of Idaho Territory. 

This section was amended in 1896 by inserting after the 
word male in the second line, the words, or female, and after 
the word, he, in the 4th line, the words, or she, thus giving 
women equal right with men to vote on all questions. The 
law providing for registration, requires the County Com- 
missioners to establish a convenient number of voting pre- 
cincts in their County, and to appoint in each voting pre- 
cinct a registrar with whom every voter must register between 
the 1st day of August and the 10th day next preceding any 
election. 

Sec. 3. No person is permitted to vote, serve as a juror, or hold any 
civil office who is under guardianship, idiotic or insane, or who has, at 
any place, been convicted of treason, felony, embezzlement of the pub- 
lic funds, bartering or selling, or offering to barter or sell his vote, 
or purchasing or offering to purchase the vote of another, or other in- 
famous crime, and who has not been restored to the rights of citizen- 
ship, or who at the time of such election, is confined in prison on con- 
viction of a criminal offense, or who is a bigamist or polygamist, or is 
living in what is known as a patriarchal, plural, or celestial marriage, 
or in violation of any law of this State, or of the United States, forbid- 
ding any such crime; or who in any manner, teaches, advises, counsels, 
aids, or encourages, any person to enter into bigamy, polygamy, or such 
patriarchal, plural or celestial marriage, or to live in violation of any 
such law, or to commit any such crime; or who is a member of or con- 
tributes to the support, aid, or encouragement of any order, organiza- 
tion, association, corporation or society, which teaches, advises, coun- 
sels, encourages, or aids any person to enter into bigamy, 
polygamy, or such patriarchal, or plural marriage, or teaches or advises 
that the laws of this State prescribing rules of civil conduct, are not 
the supreme law of the State; nor shall Chinese, or persons of Mongol- 
ian descent, not born in the United States, nor Indians not taxed, who 
have not severed their tribal relations and adopted the habits of civil- 
ization, either vote, serve as jurors, or hold any civil office. 

To carry out this provision of our Constitution, it is by 
law required that before registering, a person must make 
oath that he is not guilty of any of the crimes and perni- 
cious practices, here enumerated, and has not any of the 
disqualifications here mentioned. If he cannot make such 
oath he will not be permitted to register or vote. 



62 

Sec. 4. The Legislature may prescribe qualifications, limitations, 
and conditions for the right of suffrage additional to those prescribed in 
this Article, but shall never annul any of the provisions in this Article 
contained. 

Thus the Legislature may require voters to possess cer- 
tain educational qualifications or a longer residence, as in 
elections for the division of a county (see Sec. 3, Art, 
XVIII,) or as in school elections, a property qualification. 

Sec. 5. For the purpose of voting, no person shall be deemed to have 
gained or lost a residence by reason of his presence or absence while em- 
ployed in the service of this State, or of the United States, nor while 
engaged in the navigation of the waters of this State or of the United 
States, nor while a student of any institution of learning, nor while 
kept at any alms house or other asylum at the public expense. 

Were it not for this provision in the Constitution, many 
persons would lose their residence in this State while ab- 
sent on United States business, and would have to live six 
months in the State when they came back before they could 
vote. Under this section, United States Senators, Repre- 
sentatives and other officers may come back from Washing- 
ton to vote. During the civil war the soldiers could not be 
spared to go home to vote, so voting places were established 
where they were, and their votes sent to the States from 
whence the soldiers came. But under ordinary circum- 
stances persons absent from the State must come home if 
they wish to vote. Students attending school in another 
State may come back to vote without having been in the 
county the 30 days just previous to an election; and should 
a person, temporarily insane, be restored to reason just prior 
to an election he would be entitled to vote. 

ARTICLE VII. FINANCE AND REVENUE. 

Section 1. The fiscal year shall commence on the second Monday 
of January in each year, unless otherwise provided by law. 

Fiscal means pertaining to money. Property is assessed 

and taxes and revenues gathered for the year commencing; 

on the second Monday of January of each year. 

Sec. 2. The Legislature shall provide such revenue as maybe need- 
fill, by levying- a tax by valuation, so that every person or corporation 



63 

shall pay a tax in proportion to the value of his, her or its property, ex- 
cept as in this Article hereinafter otherwise provided. The Legislature 
anay also impose a license tax (both upon natural persons and upon cor- 
porations, other than municipal, doing business in this State); also, 
a per capita tax: Provided, The Legislature may exempt a limited 
amount of improvements upon land from taxation. 

By this section the Legislature is authorized to lay and 
collect taxes. A government that did not have this power 
to provide for its own support, could not long stand. Yet 
it is an extraordinary power for it is taking private proper- 
ty for public use, and is one, most likely to be misused by 
tyrannical governments. Throughout history we see in- 
stances where it was the means of oppression and the cause 
of the clashes between the people and tyrants or tyrannical 
governments. Indeed, it was the abuse of this power of 
taxation that created the prime grievances of the American 
colonies against the government of England, By this sec- 
tion the Legislature is restricted to provide only such reve- 
nue as may be needful and in the succeeding sections of 
this Article we shall see yet more positive restrictions. It 
is but fair that every person should contribute to the ex- 
penses of the Government according to his means, and this, 
of course," can be best ascertained, by levying taxes accord- 
ing to valuation of property. In this way taxes bear equallv 
upon the rich and the poor; indeed, it is often easier for the 
rich man to pay a certain percentage of his wealth for taxes 
than it is for the poor man to pay the same percentage of his 
small stock though the former may pay a much greater 
•'amount, A license tax is usually laid on dealers in spirit- 
•ous liquors, tobacco and opium and our Legislature has by 
law laid such taxes. A per capita tax is a poll tax. This 
tax is not levied according to property but by the head. 

As yet the Legislature has not exempted any improve- 
ments upon land from taxation, though it has exempted 
farmers 1 implements to the value of $200.00. 

Sec. 3. The word "property" as herein used shall be defined and 
classified bv law. 



C4 

Property is that to which a person has a legal title, 

whether the thing owned is in his possession, or not. When 

used in our law, the word property includes both real and 

personal property. 

Sec. 4. The property of the United States, the State, counties, 
towns, cities and other municipal corporations and public libraries shall 
be exempt from taxation. 

This exempts the public lands belonging to the United 

States, Indian reservations, military posts, public buildings, 

such as post office, capitol and court house buildings^ school 

houses and city or town halls. 

Sec. 5. All taxes shall be uniform upon the same class of subjects 
within the territorial limits of the authority levying the tax, and shall 
be levied and collected under general laws, which shall prescribe such 
regulations as shall secure a just valuation for taxation of all property, 
real and personal: Provided, That the Legislature may allow such 
exemptions from taxation from time to time as shall seem necessary and 
just, and all existing exemptions provided by the laws of the territory, 
shall continue until changed by the Legislature of the State. Provided, 
further. That duplicate taxation of property for the same purpose dur- 
ing the same year, is hereby prohibited. 

That taxes may be uniform two things are needed: i, 
That property of the same class be assessed alike, and which 
is done as nearly as possible, though it can never be done 
perfectly, and 2, That the percentage of taxation be the 
same. 

By virtue of the first proviso in this section the Legisla- 
ture has exempted churches and church property from tax- 
ation. 

The second proviso relates not only to the Legislature, 
but to counties and cities as well. Nearly all taxes are 
levied for the entire fiscal year, and if double taxation were 
allowed, it would defeat many of the provisions of this Con- 
stitution. This, however, does not prohibit the levy of a 
new tax in the same year for a new purpose. 

Sec. 6. The Legislature shall not impose taxes for the purpose of 
any county, city, town, or other municipal corporation, but may by law 
invest in the corporate authorities thereof, respectively, the power to 
assess and collect taxes for all purposes of such corporation. 



IMie Legislature can only raise revenue for State pur- 
poses. By law, the County Commissioners of a county, 
and the common council of a city, are empowered, to im- 
pose the taxes necessary for their respective county or city 
purposes, 

Sec. 7. All taxes levied for State purposes shall be paid into the 
State treasury, and no county, city, town, or other municipal corpor- 
ation, the inhabitants thereof, nor the property therein, shall be re- 
leased or discharged from their or its proportionate share of taxes to be 
levied for State purposes. 

If the taxes assessed against any property which is not 

exempt from taxation, are not paid the property is sold and 

the proceeds taken, to pay them. 

Sec. 8. The power to tax corporations or corporate property, both 
real and personal, shall never be relinquished or suspended, and all cor- 
porations in this State or doing business therein, shall be subject to 
taxation for State, county, school, municipal, and other purposes, on real 
and personal property, owned or used by them, and not by this Consti- 
tution exempted from taxation within the territorial limits of the author- 
ity levying the tax. 

Corporations are usually formed for great or extensive 
enterprises requiring great outlays of labor and capital; 
hence, are usually possessed of a great deal of propertv, and 
though, often of great public benefit, it is but fair that they 
pay their proportion of taxes. Under this section, not only 
may the property, both real and personal of corporations, be 
taxed, but their franchises themselves are subject to taxa- 
tion. 

Skc. 9. The rate of taxation of real and personal property for State 
purposes shall never exceed ten (10) mills on each dollar of assessed val- 
uation; and if the taxable property in the State shall amount to fifty 
million (50,000,000) dollars the rate shall not exceed five (5) mills on each 
dollar of valuation; and whenever the taxable property in the State 
shall amount to one hundred million (100,000,000) dollars, the rate shall 
not exceed three (3) mills on each dollar of valuation; and whenever the 
taxable property of the State shall amount to three hundred million 
( 300,000,000 f dollars the rate shall never thereafter exceed one and a half 
{!%) mills on each dollar of valuation, unless a proposition to increase 
such rate, specifying the rate proposed and the time during which the 
same shall be levied, shall have been submitted to the people at a gen- 
eral election, and shall have received a majority of all the votes cast for 
and against it at such election. 



m 

The rates as fixed by this section are for State taxes onl\% 
The rate of county, school, or municipal taxation is usually 
higher, and the aggregate is often four or five cents on a 
dollar. At present the total valuation of property in the 
State is placed, in round numbers at $29,000,000, so that 
the State taxation may be one cent, on each dollar* This 
would yield $290,000, taxes; if this sum is insufficient, the 
percentage can be increased by submitting such a proposi- 
tion to the people and receiving from them a majority of 
votes cast on the proposition. 

Sec. 10. The making of profit directly or indirectly, out of State, 
county, city, town, township, or school district money, or using the same 
for any purpose not authorized by law, by any public officer* shall be 
deemed a felony, and shali be punished as provided by law. 

The purpose of raising State, county, town, or school 
district money is that it be applied and used to the needs 
and advantages of the State, county, town or school, re- 
spectively; and any profit that may be gained out of such 
money, ought to accrue to the State, county, town or school, 
for which it was raised. In some States which had no pro- 
vision similar to this, the officers took advantage of it, and 
pocketed all interests that accrued on funds which they 
handled by virtue of their offices. 

Sec. 11. No appropriation shall be made, nor any expenditure au- 
thorized by the Legislature, whereby, the expenditure of the State dur- 
ing any fiscal year shall exceed the total tax then provided for by law, and 
applicable to such appropriation or expenditure unless the Legislature 
making such appropriation shall provide for levying a sufficient tax, not 
exceeding the rates allowed in section nine (9) of this Article, to pay such 
appropriation or expenditure within such fiscal year. This provision shall 
not apply to appropriations or expenditures to suppress insurrection, 
defend the State, or assist in defending the United States in time of war, 

This prevents our State from contracting debts in times 
of peace. If for any special purpose more money is re- 
quired than is provided for, the Legislature must raise this 
money by a tax for that purpose. In time of war or rebel- 
lion, the State may make appropriation to any amount that 
mav be deemed necessarv. 



Sec. 12. There shall be a State Board of Equalization. Consisting 
of" the Governor, Secretary of State* Attorney General, State Auditor, 
and State Treasurer, whose duties shall be prescribed by law. The 
Board of County Commissioners for the several Counties of the State, 
shall constitute boards of equalization for their respective counties, 
whose duty it shall be to equalize the valuation of the taxable property 
in the Countv. under such rules and regulations as shall be prescribed 
by law. 

It is the ditty of Boafds of Equalization to review the val- 
uation of property as assessed by the Assessor, and to fix the 
valuation of the same class of property as nearly equal as pos- 
sible. The Boards of Equalization of the county and that 
of the State have regular meetings for that purpose and any 
one who thinks his property assessed too high can lay his 
grievance before that board who may reduce it or not, as 
they find just and proper* 

Sec. 13. No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in pur 
suance of appropriations made by law. 

That is, the State Treasurer can not pay any claims 
against the State, except when he is authorized to do so by 
law passed by the Legislature* 

Sec. 14. No money shall be drawn from the County treasuries ex- 
cept upon the warrant of a duly authorized officer, in such manner and 
form as shall be prescribed by the Legislature. 

Claims against the county are passed upon by the Board 

of Commissioners and if allowed, the County Auditor draws 

Warrants for the amounts which are paid by the County 

Treasurer. If the Board of Commsssionefs disallows a 

claim, it may be sued for in the courts. 

Sec. 15. The Legislature shall provide by law, such a system of 
County finance, as shall cause the business of the several counties to be 
Conducted on a cash basis. It shall also provide that whenever any 
county shall have any warrants outstanding and unpaid, for the pay- 
ment of which there are no funds in the county treasury, the County 
Commissioners, in addition to other taxes provided by law, shall levy a 
special tax, not to exceed ten (10) mills on the dollar, of taxable proper- 
ty, as shown by the last preceding assessment, for the creation of a spe 
Cial fund for the redemption of said warrants; and after the levy of such 
special tax, all warrants issued before such levy, shali be paid exclusive- 
ly out of said fund. All moneys in the county treasury at the end of 
each fiscal year, not needed for current expenses, shall be transferred 
to said redemption fund* 



68 

Ordinarily the annual taxes are sufficient to meet tlie ex* 
penses of the county; but when, from any cause, more war- 
rants are issued than there are funds in the treasury the 
County Commissioners may levy this special tax. In ex- 
traordinary cases, as when the county requires special, large 
sums, as when it builds a court house, or a jail, roads of 
bridges, the County Commissioners are required by law, to 
submit the question of bonding the county to the voters of 
the county at a special election, called for that purpose, and 
if two-thirds of the voters are in favor, the County Commis- 
sioners may issue bonds. To meet the interest on such 
bonds and to pay the principal when they become due, the 
County Commissioners are authorized to levy a special tax. 

Sh;c. 16. The Legislature shall pass all laws necessary to carry out 
the provisions of this Article. 

The Legislature has passed laws for carrying out the pro- 
visions of this Article, and at each session new ones are 
passed. With the growth of population, new conditions 
and emergencies arise, requiring new revenue laws. The 
Constitution wisely prescribes no detailed rules for levying 
taxes but only such restrictions as are calculated to prevent 
abuse. The greater number of our laws relate to taxes and 
taxation. 

ARTICLE VIII. PUBLIC INDEBTEDNESS AND 

SUBSIDIES. 

Section 1. The Legislature shall not in any manner create any 
debt or debts, liability or liabilities, which shall singly or in the aggre- 
gate, exclusive of the debt of the Territory at the date of its admission 
as a State, exceed the sum of one and one-half per centum upon the as- 
sessed value of the taxable property in the State, except in case of war. 
to repel an invasion or suppress insurrection; unless the same shall be 
authorized by law for some single object or work to be distinctly speci 
tied therein, which law shall provide ways and means exclusive of loans, 
for the payment of the interest of such debt or liability, as it falls due; 
and also for the payment and discharge of the principal of such debt or lia 
bility, within twenty years of the time of the contracting thereof, and 
shall be irrepealable until the principal and interest thereon shall be paid 
and discharged; but no such law shall take effect until at a general elec- 
tion it shall have been submitted to the people and shall have received a 



69 

majority of ail the votes east for and against it at such election; and all 
moneys raised by the authority of such law. shall be applied only to the 
specified object therein stated, or to the payment of the debt thereby 
created, and such law shall be published in at least one newspaper in 
each county, or city and county, if one be published therein, through- 
out the State, for three months next preceding the election at which it 
is submitted to the people. The Legislature may, at any time after the 
approval of such law. by the people, if no debt shall have been con- 
tracted in pursuance thereof, repeal the same. 

This places another restriction on the Legislature as to 
the amount of debts or liabilities that it may create. But 
should the Legislature desire to provide for any special 
undertaking, as for example, erecting a State house or other 
public building, it could still pass a law creating an in- 
debtedness greater than the one and one-half per centum 
here allowed, provided such law be approved by the people 
of the State voting thereon at a general election. In such 
extreme emergencies as insurrection, or war, the Legislature 
is alway authorized to provide measures proportionate to 
the exigency. 

Sec. 2. The credit of the State shall not in any manner, be 
given, or loaned to. or in aid of any individual, association, municipality 
or corporation: nor shall the State directly or indirectly, become a stock- 
holder in any association or corporation. 

The Constitution wisely prohibits the State from lending 
its credit. Some of the States of our Union which have 
lent their credit to railroads and other corporations have had 
to pay the debts of these concerns caused by their mismanage- 
ment and final bankrupcy. 

Sec 3. No county, city, town, township, board of education, or school 
district, or other subdivision of the State, shall incur any indebtedness, 
or liability in any manner, or for any purpose, exceeding in that year, 
the income and revenue provided for it for such year, without the in- 
come and revenue provided for it for such year, without the assent of 
two-thirds of the qualified electors thereof, voting at an election to be 
held for that purpose, nor unless, before or at the time of incurring 
such indebtedness provision shall be made for the collection of an an- 
nual tax sufficient to pay the interest on such indebtedness as it falls 
due, and also, to constitute a sinking fund for the payment of the prin- 
cipal thereof, within twenty years from the time of contracting the 
same. Any indebtedness or liability incurred contrary to this provision 
shall be void: Provided, That this section shall not be construed to 



apply to the ordinary and necessary expenses authorized by the general 

laws of the State. 

The provisions of this section and the similar ones in this 
Article and in Article VII, have kept our State and its sub- 
divisions comparatively free from debt, and by restricting 
the amount of indebtedness that may be created, have kept 
the credit of the State at par. 

Sec. 4. No county, city, town, township, board of: education, or 
school district, or other subdivision, shall lend or pledge the credit or 
faith thereof directly or indirectly, in anv manner, to, or in aid of any 
individual, association or corporation, for any amount or for any 
purpose whatever, or become responsible for any debt, contract or 
liability of any individual, association or corporation in or out of this 
State. 

By Section 2 the State is prohibited from lending its 
credit to any private enterprise, and by this section all sub- 
divisions of the State are likewise prohibited from lending 
any aid to any individual, association or corporation. 

ARTICLE IX. EDUCATION AND SCHOOL LANDS. 

Section 1. The stability of a republican form of government de- 
pending mainly upon the intelligence of the people, it shall be the duty 
of the Legislature of Idaho, to establish and maintain a general, uniform 
and thorough system of public, free common schools. 

The Constitution gives reason enough why we should 
have schools. The rulers of any nation should be educated 
and intelligent; in a republican form of government, the 
people are the rulers, hence should be educated. 

Experience has shown, that no nation can long be free 
unless it is intelligent. Education is the deadliest foe to 
despotism and oppression of every kind. It is only an 
ignorant nation can be kept under tyrannical sway; an in- 
telligent nation is destined to be free. Aside from this, it is 
a principle of humanity, to give to each reasonable being 
the opportunity of improving himself and his lot in life. 
The progress of the world is ever onward and our present state 
of civilization makes the struggle of lifea hard one, indeed, 
for those who have no education whatever. And bv thus 



giving an opportunity to all, those specially gifted will be 

found or rather find themselves, and develop into leaders of 

thought, invention, art, or statesmanship and few "flowers 

are born to blush unseen, and waste their sweetness on the 

desert air. " 

Sec. 2. The general supervision of the public schools of the State 
shall be vested in a board of education, whose powers and duties shall 
be prescribed by law; the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the 
Secretary of State and Attorney General, shall constitute the board, of 
which the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall be president. 

The board of education is by law vested with authority 
to grant State certificates and diplomas, and revoke them. 
In addition the State Superintendent has general supervi- 
sion over County Superintendents and all public schools of 
the State; must make out a course of study for the public 
schools, prepare the examination questions for teachers, 
prescribe rules and regulations for holding teachers' insti- 
tutes, and perform still other duties relating to the schools 
of the State. 

Sec. 3. The public school fund of the State shall forever remain 
inviolate and intact; the interest thereon only shall be expended in the 
maintenance of the schools of the State, and shall be distributed among 
the several counties and school districts of the State in such manner as 
may be prescribed by law. Xo part of this fund, principal or interest, 
shall ever be transferred to any other fund, or used or appropriated ex- 
cept as herein provided. The State Treasurer shall be the custodian of 
this fund, and the same shall be securely and profitably invested as may 
be by law directed. The State shall supply all losses thereof that may in 
any manner occur. 

In the next section (Section 4) we shall see from what 
sources the school fund is derived. No part of the principal 
of this fund is ever expended, only the interest thereof. 
This income is apportioned and distributed by the State 
Superintendent semi-annually, in January and July, among 
the public schools of the State according to the number of 
children of school age. This income is already quite large, 
and as the principal fund is steadily increased, it alone will 
in time be adequate to support the schools of the State. 

Sec. 4. The public school fund of the State shall consist of the 
proceeds of such lands as have heretofore been granted, or may here- 



after be granted, to the State by the general government known as 
school lands, and those granted in lieu of such: lands acquired by gift 
or grant from any person or corporation, under any law or grant of the 
general government, and of all other grants of land or money made to 
the State from the general government for general educational purposes, 
or where no other special purpose is indicated in such grant; all estates 
or distributive shares of estates that may escheat to the State; all un- 
claimed shares and dividends of any corporation incorporated under the 
laws of the State: and all other grants, gifts, devises, or bequests made 
to the State for general educational purposes. 

When Idaho was admitted into the Union as a State, the 
general government granted to it sections numbered i8and 
36 in every township, to be sold and the proceeds applied 
to the support of the common schools. In addition to this, 
the State receives 5 per cent, of all moneys received on sales 
by the United States of public lands lying within the limits 
of the State. 

If a person possessed of property, dies, leaving no heirs, 
his property escheats to the State, and it is added to the per- 
manent school fund. 

If all the members of a corporation should die, or any cor- 
poration be dissolved without provision for its stock, or any 
other of its property be left unclaimed, it too would escheat 
to the State and be added to the school fund. And, of 
course, gifts and bequests, by the benevolently disposed, 
are always accepted by the State, to swell the school fund. 

Sec. 5. Neither the Legislature, nor any county, city, town, town- 
ship, school district, or other public corporation, shall ever make any 
appropriation, or pay from any public fund or moneys whatever, any- 
thing in aid of any church or sectarian, or religious society, or for any 
sectarian or religious purpose, or to help support or sustain any school, 
academy, seminary, college, university, or other literary or scientific 
institution, controlled by any church or sectarian or religious denomina- 
tion whatsoever; nor shall any grant or donation of land, money or 
other personal property ever be made by the State, or any such public 
corporation, to any church or for any sectarian or religious purpose. 

Some of the old countries of Europe have an established 
State church which is supported by the government. 

With us State and church are entirely separate. It would 
be contrary to our idea of religious liberty to tax a person 



73 

for the support of a church; and as we have and tolerate 
nearly all denominations, it would certainly be unjust to 
compel a person to contribute to the support of a church, 
in which, perhaps, he did not believe. History has shown 
that it is better for all concerned that churches be kept up 
by voluntary contributions only. And the same holds true 
of all sectarian schools, and colleges. 

Sec. 6. No religious test or qualification shall ever be required of any 
person as a condition of admission into any public educational institu- 
tion of the State, either as teacher or student; and no teacher or 
student of any such institution shall ever be required to attend or parti- 
cipate in any religious service whatever. 

No sectarian or religious tenets or doctrines shall ever be taught in 
the public schools, nor shall any distinction or classification of pupils 
be made on account of race or color. No books, papers, tracts or docu 
ments of apolitical, sectarian or denominational character shall be used 
or introduced in any schools established under the provisions of this 
Article, nor shall any teacher or any district receive any of the public 
school moneys in which the schools have not been taught in accordance 
with the provisions of this Article. 

The State may and does require by law, certain qualifica- 
tions in teachers and also of students as conditions of admis- 
sion to certain schools, but none are religious qualifications. 
The doors of all our schools, colleges, and the university 
are open to the meritorious of every faith and denomination, 
and the curriculum is not taken up by religious studies. If 
the patrons of any common school should insist on having 
certain religious instruction given in their school, they 
would receive none of the State school money nor any other 
support from the State. 

Sec. 7. The Governor, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Sec 
retary of State and Attorney General shall constitute the State Board 
of Land Commissioners, who shall have the direction, control and dis- 
position of the public lands of the State, under such regulations as may 
be prescribed by law. 

In the next section are given the duties of the Board of 

Land Commissioners. 

Sec. 8. It shall be the duty of the State Board of Land Commis- 
sioners to provide for the location, protection, sale or rental of all the 
lands heretofore, or which may hereafter be, granted to the State by 



74 

the general government, under such regulations as may be prescribed 
by law. and in such manner as will secure the maximum possible 
amount, therefor: Provided, That no school lands shall be sold for 
less than ($10) ten dollars per acre. No law shall ever be passed by the 
Legislature granting any privileges to persons who may have settled 
upon any such public lands, subsequent to the survey thereof by the 
general government, by which the amount to be derived by the sale, or 
other disposition of such lands, shall be diminished, directly or indirect 
ly. The Legislature shall, at the earliest practicable period, provide by- 
law that the general grants of land made by Congress to the State shall, 
be judiciously located and carefully preserved and held in trust subject 
to disposal at public auction for the use and benefit of the respective 
objects for which said grants of land were made, and the Legislature 
shall provide for the sale of said lands from time to time, and for the 
sale of timber on all State lands, and for the faithful application of the 
proceeds thereof in accordance with the terms of said grants: Provided* 
That not to exceed twenty-five sections of school lands shall be sold in 
any one year, and to be sold in sub-divisions of not to exceed one hun- 
dred and sixty (160) acres to any one individual, company or corpora- 
tion. 

The State Board of Land Commissioners has the general 
control of all the public lands belonging to the State; it must 
make abstracts of these lands> showing the location of the 
lands> and whether timbered or improved, or whether they 
are mineral lauds or not. It may also sell or lease such 
lands. 

By law it is provided that all lands belonging to the 
State shall be appraised, and that it shall not be sold for less 
than the appraised value, and never for less than $10.00 
per acre. If any person buys school lands upon which 
another has made improvements, such other may elect to 
have his improvements paid > or he must remove them with- 
in a certain time. 

To prevent the public school lands from all falling into 
the hands of the rich, it is provided that no one individual 
or corporation can purchase more than 160 acres. x\s our 
State becomes more thickly settled, the lands thereof be- 
come more valuable. It is therefore provided that not 
more than twenty-five sections of school lands shall be sold 
in any one year. 



Sec. 9. The Legislature may require by law, that every child of 
sufficient mental and physical ability shall attend the public school 
throughout the period between the ages of six and eighteen years, for 
a*time equivalent to three years, unless educated by other means. 

In pursuance of the provisions of this section, the Legis- 
lature has passed a law requiring parents, guardians or 
other persons having control of any child between the ages 
of 8 and 14 years, to send such child to the public school 
for at least 12 weeks, unless, the bodily or mental condition 
of such child does not permit his going to school, or he at- 
tends another school or receives private instruction, or un- 
less the child is necessarily compelled to work for the sup- 
port of his parents. If this law is not complied with, the 
parent or guardian is liable to a fine of from $5.00 to $50. 00, 
which fine, when collected, is turned into the school fund of 
the countv. 

Sec. 10. The location of the University of Idaho, as established by 
-existing laws, is hereby confirmed. All the rights, immunities, fran- 
chises, and endowments heretofore granted thereto by the Territory of 
Idaho are hereby perpetuated unto the said University. The regents 
shall have the general supervision of the University, and the control 
and direction of all the funds of, and appropriations to, the University, 
under such regulations as may be prescribed by law. No University 
lands shall be sold for less than ten dollars per acre, and in sub-divi- 
sions not to exceed one hundred and sixty acres, to any one person, com- 
pany or corporation. 

The University of the State of Idaho is located at Moscow. 
It is governed by a Board of Regents, consisting of nine 
members, appointed by the Governor. It is open to both 
male and female students, and is free to those who have re- 
sided in the State a year prior to their admission. The Un- 
iversity fund consists of the proceeds of the sale of lands 
granted by the general government to the State for that spe- 
cial purpose, and by special tax. In addition, the United 
States has granted 50,000 acres for an Agricultural College, 
which is now connected with the University. 

Sec. 11. The permanent educational funds, other than funds aris- 
ing from the disposition of University lands belonging to the State, 
shall be loaned on first mortgage on improved farm lands within the 
State, or on State or United States bonds, under such regulations as the 



16 

Legislature may provide: Provided, That no loan shall be made of any 
amount of money exceeding one-third of the market value of the lands 
at the time of the loan, exclusive of building's. 

This is a sound business provision; there are no better se- 
curities than farm lands, and State or United States bonds, 
and as long as the school funds are invested in securities 
like these they must be safe against loss. The faith of the 
whole nation in the case of United States bonds, and the 
faith of the State in the case of the State bonds, is pledged 
to redeem them at their full value, and to pay the interest. 
In the case of mortgages on farm lands, there is the addi- 
tional security contained in the proviso, that the amount of 
money loaned shall not exceed one-third of the market 
value of the land, and excludes buildings because they are 
not entirely safe. 

ARTICLE X, PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS. 

Section. 1. Educational, reformatory, and penal institutions, ancf 
those for the benefit of the insane, blind, deaf and dumb, and such other 
institutions as the public good may require, shall be established and 
supported by the State in such manner as may be prescribed by law. 

The public institutions of the State at present are a Uni- 
versity, located at Moscow, established in 1889;. a Normal 
School at Albion, and another at Lewiston both established 
in 1893;. an Asylum for Insane at Blackfoot, and a Peniten- 
tiary at Boise. 

All of these institutions are supported mainly by the pro- 
ceeds from the sales of public lands granted to the State by 
the United States for those special purposes. There is as 
yet no institution for the blind or deaf, but the Legislature 
has passed a law requiring the State Board of Education to 
enter into contract with a neighboring State having stich an 
institution, to receive any deaf, dumb or blind from the 
State, into such institution, which law also makes appropri- 
ations for paying the board and tuition of such pupils. 

Sec. 2. The seat of government of the State of Idaho shall be locat- 
ed at Boise City for twenty years from the admission of the State, after 
which time the Legislature may provide for its re-location, by submit- 



ting the question to a Vote of the electors of the State at some general 
election. 

Idaho was admitted in i 890 so that the capital cannot be 

removed from Boise before 1910, 

Sec, 3. The Legislature may submit the question of the location of 
the seat of government to the qualified voters of the State at the gen- 
eral election, then next ensuing, and a majority of all the votes upon 
said question cast at said election shall be necessary to determine the 
location thereof. Said Legislature shall also provide that in case there 
shall be no choice of location at said election the question of choice be- 
tween the two places for which the highest number of votes shall have 
been cast shall be submitted in like manner to the qualified electors of 
the State at the next general election. 

The capital should not be removed because a few voters 
may desire it removed, so the Constitution prudently requires 
a majority of all the votes to determine where it shall be re- 
moved to. That is, if more than two cities or places are 
voted for, one of them in order to carry the election, must 
receive, not only more than any one other, but more than 
all the others together. 

Sec. 4. All property and institutions of the Territory, shall, upon 
adoption of the Constitution, become the property and institutions of 
the State of Idaho. 

All property belonging' to the Territory of Idaho vested 

in the State of Idaho when the government was changed. 

Sec. 5. The Governor. Secretary of State, and Attorney General 
shall constitute a board, to be known as the State Prison Commissioners. 
and shall have the control, direction and management of the penitenti- 
aries of the State. The Governor shall be chairman, and the board shall 
appoint a Warden, who may be removed at pleasure. The Warden shall 
have the power to appoint his subordinates, subject to the approval of 
the said board. 

The Board of Prison Commissioners is also authorized In- 
law to give employment to the convicts, and may let their 
labor, but such labor must be done within the penitentiary 
limits and must not come into competition with any of the 
industries of the State. 

Sec. 6. There shall be appointed by the Governor three directors of 
the asylum for the insane, who shall be confirmed by the Senate. They 
shall have the control, direction and management of the said asylums, 
under such regulations as the Legislature shall provide and hold their 



offices for a period of two years. The directors shall have the appoint 
merit of the medical superintendent, who shall appoint the assistants 
with the approval of the directors. 

The Legislature has passed Very liberal laws for the car^ 

and provision of the State's most unfortunate subjects. The* 

asylum at Blackfoot is well kept, well supplied with food 

for its inmates and medical treatment provided. 

Sec. 7. The Legislature for sanitary reasons may cause the re- 
moval to more suitable localities of any of the institutions mentioned in 
section one of this Article. 

The climate of every part of Idaho is remarkably healthy 
and the Legislature has not yet found it necessafy to re- 
move any of the institutions of the State fdrsanitafy reasons. 

ARTICLE XL CORPORATIONS. PUBLIC AND 

PRIVATE. 

Section 1. All existing charters or grants of special or exclusive 
privileges under which the corporations or grantees shall not have or- 
ganized or commenced business in good faith at the time of the adop- 
tion of this Constitution, shall thereafter have no validity rf 

So that any corporation formed before the admission of 
Idaho as a State and not having begun the business for 
which it was formed, is dissolved, and must, if it wishes to 
retain its corporate existence, be r'e-iricorpdrated i arid any' 
one, who ? having obtained any grant or franchise from the 1 
State, as for example, the right to conduct a ferry y or keep 
a toll gate r and has neglected to operate the ferry or keep 
the toll gate, loses such franchise, 

A corporation is a franchise possessed by arte or more 1 

individuals who subsist as a tody politic Under a corporate 

name, and endowed with perpetual succession * 

Sec 2. No charter of incorporation shall be granted, extended, 
changed or amended by special Iaw r except for such municipal, charita- 
ble, educational, penal or reformatory corporations a© are or may be, 
under the control of the- State; but the Legislature shall provide by 
general law fen- the organization of corporations hereafter to be created : 
Provided, Tiiat any such general; law shall be subject to future repeal 
or alteration by the Legislature. 

As we have seen in Art. Ill, the Constitution has aimed 

to place all necessary prohibitions on the Legislature against 



passing special laws. Here ag-ain, it has prescribed some 
wholesome precaution a-gainst granting, changing or ex- 
tending charters of corporations by special law. This pre- 
vents any corporation from securing the passage of a law 
solely and specially in its favor. 

Corporations from the nature of their privileges and the 
numbers associated might exert powerful influence over the 
Legislature, and, were it not for this provision in the Con- 
stitution might secure the passage of laws yet further ex- 
tending their privileges until they would become a menace 
to the government itself. 

These reasons do not apply to corporations under the con- 
trol of the State, such as the Board of Regents of the Uni- 
versity, and therefore, such are excepted from the provi- 
sions of this section, Corporations can now only be formed 
by complying with general laws, and these laws, like any 
other laws passed by the Legislature, may be amended or 
repealed. 

Sec. 3. The Legislature may provide by law for altering, revoking, 
or annulling any charter of incorporation existing and revocable at the 
time of the adoption of this Constitution in such manner, however, that 
no injustice shall be done to the corporators. 

It has been decided that the charter of a corporation is a 
contract, and under the provisions of Sec. 10, of Art. I, of 
the Constitution of the United States cannot be impaired. 

Sue. 4. The Legislature shall provide by law that in ali elections 
('or directors or managers of incorporated companies, every stockholder 
shall have the right to vote in person or by proxy, for the number of 
shares of stock owned by him, for as many persons as there are directors or 
managers to be elected, or to cumulate said shares; and give one candi- 
date as many votes as the number of directors multiplied by the num- 
ber of his shares of stock, shall equal, or to distribute, them on the 
-same principle among as many candidates as he shall think tit. and such 
ill rectors shall not be elected in any other manner. 

Corporations, usually have a sum fixed in their charters 
which is to be paid into the treasury of the corporation for 
the purpose of prosecuting the business or undertaking of 
the corporation. This is the capital stock. The capital 



8U 

stock is divided into a number of equal parts called shares 
or stock, and sold. 

To illustrate: Suppose a corporation be formed for the 
purpose of constructing a railroad, with a capital stock of 
one million dollars. The corporators then fix the number' 
and amount of the shares which, we will say ? is 10,000 
shares at $100,00 each. If the scheme is one likely to be 
successful these shares are readily sold, and the proceeds used 
in the construction of the road. The buyers of these shares 
are called stockholders, and if the road is put into successful 
operation and pays a profit, the stockholders draw their pro- 
portion. 

Under existing law every stockholder has as many votes 
for all directors as he owns shares. Thus, if 5 directors are 
to be elected, a person owning 10 shares can give to each 
director 10 votes. But not all corporations possess stock T 
as for example, educational corporations, and in such, mem- 
bers have each one vote. 

Sec. 5. All railroads shall be public highways, and all railroad, 
transportation, and express companies shall be common carriers, and 
subject to legislative control, and the Legislature shall have power to 
regulate and control by law, the rates of charg;es for the transportation 
of passengers and freight by such companies or other common carriers 
from one point to another in the State. Any association or corporation 
organized for the purpose, shall have the right to construct and operate 
a railroad between any designated points within this State, and to con- 
nect within or at the State line with railroads of other States and Ter- 
ritories. 

Every railroad company shall have the right with its road to inter- 
sect, connect with, or cross any other railroad, under such regulations 
as may be prescribed by law. and upon making due compensation. 

A common carrier is one who holds himself out to all 
persons to carry goods and passengers from place to place,, 
either on land or by water, for a certain recompense. Such, 
for example, are railroad and steamboat companies, stage 
lines and express companies. 

Common carriers are usually granted special privileges^ 
and in return are held to strict liability for losses and dam- 
age of goods shipped on their conveyances and for accidents 



81 

occurring to passengers from want of due care on the part 

of the common carrier or his employees. Our Legislature 

has not yet fixed any rate that railroad companies or other 

carriers may charge, but has the power of doing so at any 

"time. 

Sec. 6. All individuals, associations, and corporations, similarly sit- 
uated shall have equal rights to have persons or property transported 
on and over any railroad, transportation, or express route in this State, 
except that preference may be given to perishable property. No undue 
or unreasonable discrimination shall be made in charges or facilities for 
transportation of freight or passengers of the same class, by any rail- 
road or transportation, or express company, between persons or places 
within the State; but excursions or commutation tickets may be issued 
and sold at special rates, provided such rates are the same to all 
persons. No railroad, or transportation, or express company shall be 
allowed to charge, collect or receive, under penalties which the Legisla- 
ture shall prescribe, any greater charge or toll for the transportation of 
freight or passengers to any place or station upon its route or line, 
than it charges for the transportation of the same class of freight or 
passengers to any more distant place or station upon its route or line 
within this State. No railroad, express, or transportation company, nor 
any lessee, manager, or other employee thereof, shall give any preference 
to any individual, association, or corporation in furnishing cars or mot- 
ive power or for the transportation of money or other express matter. 

Common carriers must carry for all indiscriminately, and 
any such company that should refuse to carry goods or per- 
son, without reasonable cause, would be liable to damages. 

Sec. 7. No corporation other than municipal corporations in exis- 
tence at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall have the bene 
fit of any future legislation, without first tiling in the office of the Sec- 
retary of State an acceptance of the provisions of this Constitution in- 
binding form. 

Corporations in existence before the adoption of this Con- 
stitution are governed by the laws of the Territory in force 
at the organization of the corporation, and not by this Con- 
stitution. 

But in order to have the benefit of any laws that may 
hereafter be passed, it must file an acceptance of the provi- 
sion of this Constitution with the Secretary of State. 

Sec. 8. The right of eminent domain shall never be abridged, or so 
construed as to prevent the Legislature from taking the property and 
franchise of incorporated companies, and subjecting them to public 



82 

use, the same as property of individuals; and the police powers of the 
State shall never be abridged or so construed as to permit corporations 
to conduct their business in such manner as to infringe the equal rights 
of individuals,, or the general well being of the State* 

What constitutes the right of eminent domain, we learned 
in Sec. 14, of Art. I. The State may exercise this right 
as well over corporate property and franchises as over pro- 
perty of individuals, paying, of course, in both instances, a 
just price for such property. 

And no matter how absolutely the grant of the franchise 
to a corporation, the State, by this section, reserves the 
right to control and regulate a corporation, whenever in the 
conduct of the business it infringes the equal rights of other 
citizens of the State, 

Sec. 9. No corporation shall issue stocks or bonds, except for labor 
done, services performed, or money ur property actually received; and 
ail fictitious increase of stock or indebtedness shall be void. The stock 
of corporations shall not be increased except in pursuance of general 
law, nor without the consent of the persons, holding a majority of the 
stock, first obtained at a meeting held after at least thirty day's notice 
given in pursuance of law. 

The word stock as here used means the same as the word 
share, the meaning of which we learned in Sec* 4, of this 
Article. 

Corporations sometimes issue shares as paid up stocks 
when in fact, they are not fully paid up. This is called 
' 'watered or fictitious stock. ' ? Thus if a corporation should 
issue $1000 worth of stock to a person who only paid $400.00 
to the company, it would be "watered to the amount of 
$600. 00. ) ' This is done to make the corporation seem richer 
than it really is, and thus defraud the public, This section 
of our Constitution requires that no stock shall be issued 
except the corporation receives money, or money's value 
for them. The same is true of bonds. Stock issued in ex- 
cess of the capital stock of the corporation, is entirely void, 

The second clause of this section requires certain things 
to be done, and that the consent of a majority of the stock- 



8;i 

hoiders be secured before the capital stock of the corpora- 
tion can be increased. 

Sec. KX No foreign corporation shall do any business in this State 
Without having one or more known places of business, and, an author- 
ized agent or agents in the same, upon whom process may be served. 
and no company or corporation formed under the laws of any other 
country, state, or territory, shall have or be allowed to exercise or enjoy. 
Within this State any greater rights or privileges than those possessed 
or enjoyed by corporations of the same or similar character created 
under the laws of this State. 

By foreign corporation is meant any corporation not 
created under the laws of Idaho, A corporation from 
another State is a foreign corporation » 

Before a foreign corporation can do business in this State, 
it must file with the Secretary of State a document desig- 
nating its principle place of business and some person upon 
whom summons may be served in case the corporation is 
sued. 

Such corporation then has the same but no greater right 
than a corporation of the same character originally created 
under the laws of Idaho, no matter what rights it may have 
Under the laws of the State in which it was created. 

Sec. Hi No street, or other railroad, shall be constructed within 
any city, town, or incorporated village without the consent of the local 
authorities having the control of the street or highway proposed to be 
occupied by such street or other railroad. 

Any corporation formed for the purpose of constructing 
any railroad must designate in its article of incorporation, 
the route it proposes to take. If such route comes within 
the limits of a city or corporate village, the corporation 
must first secure the consent of the local authorities, 

Sec. 12. The Legislature shall pass no law for the benefit of a rail- 
road, or other corporation, or any individual or association of individuals 
retroactive in its operation, or w T hich imposes on the people of any 
county or municipal subdivision of the State, a new liability in respect 
to transactions or considerations already past. 

A retroactive law is one that affects acts done, or rights 
accrued before its passage. Any law which imposes new 
liabilities on things already done, or takes away rights 
already vested, is a retroactive law and is void. 



84 

But not all retroactive laws are void. A law, tor example, 
that should change the manner of taking an appeal from a 
judgment gained before the passage of the law, would not 
be void; it does not divest any rights, or impose any new 
liabilities. 

Sec. 13. Any association or corporation, or the lessees or managers 
thereof, organized for the purpose, or any individual, shall have the right 
to construct and maintain lines of telegraph or telephone within this 
State, and connect the same with other lines; and the Legislature shall, 
by general law of uniform operation, provide reasonable regulations to 
give full effect to this section. 

Our Legislature has passed liberal laws in favor of such 
companies. They are by law given the privilege of con- 
structing lines along public highways and across waters and 
lands in the State; any person who wilfully injures or de- 
stroys their property is liable to such company for one hun- 
dred times the amount of actual damages; and it is by law 
made a felony for any person to tap and make connection 
with their lines and read or copy any message sent across 
such lines. 

Other States have been similarly liberal in their laws 
towards these companies, and under this fostering influence 
these marvelous inventions have come into almost universal 
use in the short period of fifty years that has passed since 
the first message i 'What God hath wrought' ' was sent from 
Baltimore to Washington, 

Sec. 14. If any railroad, telegraph, express or other corporation, 
organized under any of the laws of this State shall consolidate by sale or 
otherwise with any railroad, telegraph, express, or other corporation 
organized under any of -the laws of any other State or Territory, or of the 
United States, the same shall not thereby become a foreign corporation, 
but the courts of this State shall retain jurisdiction over that part of 
the corporate property within the limits of the State in all matters that 
may arise, as if said consolidation had not taken place. 

Were it not for this provision a foreign corporation could 
easily evade the laws of this State. By first organizing a 
corporation here, and then consolidating it with the foreign 
corporation, the State would lose jurisdiction over a right*. 



85 

the franchise of the corporation, which it had itself in the 

first place granted. This is by this section prevented. 

Sec. 15. The Legislature shall not pass any law permitting the leas- 
ing or alienation of any franchise so as to release or relieve the franchise 
or property held thereunder from any of the liabilities of the lessor or 
grantor, or lessee or grantee, contracted or incurred in the operation, 
use, or enjoyment of such franchise or any of its privileges. 

A franchise is a right granted by the government to a cor- 
poration or an individual. Such, for instance, is the right 
to build a railroad, to operate a ferry," or to build a bridge. 
It is not a charter, but a right the same as a right to vote is 
a franchise. It is a right originally belonging exclusively 
to the government, but granted by it to an individual or 
corporation. The liabilities attendant upon a franchise fol- 
low it into whosoever' s hands it may come. 

Sec. 16. The term ''corporation" as used in this Article, shall be 
held and construed to include all associations and joint stock companies 
having or exercising any of the powers or privileges of corporations not 
possessed by individuals or partnerships. 

In section i of this Article was given a definition of a 

corporation. But this section now under consideration is 

broader than the definition there given, it makes all boards 

of public institutions, school trustees, etc., corporations. 

Sec. 17, Dues from private corporations shall be secured by such 
means as may be prescribed by law. but in no case shall any stocknold- 
er be individually liable in any amount over or above the amount of 
stock owned by him. 

Dues from corporations may be secured by mortgage on 
their property, the same as dues from individuals. Members 
of «. partnership are each one liable for the entire debt of the 
association, but stockholders of a corporation are only liable 
for the unpaid amount of stock held by them. Thus if a 
person owned $iooo worth of stock of which he had only 
paid $400, he would be liable for the difference or $600, but 
do more. [The above only holds good in limited corpora- 
tions, in others to the whole amount of stock.] 

Sec. 18. That no incorporated company or any association of per 
sons or stock company, ic the State of Idaho, shall directly or indirect- 
ly combine or make any contract with any other incorporated company. 



86 

foreign or domestic, through their stockholders, or the trustees or as- 
signees of such stockholders, or in any manner whatsoever, for the pur- 
pose of fixing the price or regulating the production of any article of 
commerce or of produce of the soil, or of consumption by the people: 
and that the Legislature be required to" pass laws for the enforcement 
thereof, by adequate penalties, to the extent, if necessary, for that pur- 
pese, of the forfeiture of their property and franchise. 

This is intended to prevent the formation of "trusts" and 
1 'monopolies, " such as have proved themselves so antago- 
nistic to the best interests of commerce and society in gen- 
eral, in some of the eastern states. By combining several 
large concerns into one they have been able to control the 
market on certain articles, force out smaller dealers and 
raise the price to suit themselves. 

ARTICLE XII. CORPORATIONS— MUNICIPAL. 

Section L The Legislature shall provide by general laws for the in- 
corporation, organization and classification of the cities and towns,, in 
proportion to the population, which laws may be altered, amended or re- 
pealed by the general laws. Cities and towns, heretofore incorporated, 
may become organized under such general laws, whenever a majority of 
the electors at a general election, shall so determine, under such provi- 
sion therefor as may be made by the Legislature. 

Cities are classified according to their population; those 

having more than 15,000 inhabitants are cities of the first 

class, and those having less than 15, 000 but more than 1,000 

are cities of the second class, and those having less than 

1,000 but more than 200 may be incorporated as villages. 

The manner of incorporating and the powers and duties of 

the officers of cities and villages, is also provided for by law. 

Sec. 2. Any county or incorporated city or town may make and en- 
force, within its limits, all such local, police, sanitary, and other regula- 
tions as are not in conflict with its charter or with the general law T s. 

It would be beyond the scope of this work to give in de- 
tail the powers and duties conferred upon incorporated cities 
and villages. All of this may be learned by referring to 
the laws passed by the Legislature. 

Sf,c. 3. The State shall never assume the debts of any county, town, 
or other municipal corporation, unless such debts shall have been cre- 
ated to repel invasion, suppress insurrection or defend the State in war. 



87 

Counties, cities and towns are empowered to lay and col- 
lect taxes, and otherwise provide for the payment of their 
own debts. 

Sec. 4. No couDty, town, city or other municipal corporation, by 
vote of its citizens or otherwise, shall ever become a stockholder in any 
joint stock company, corporation or association whatever, or raise money 
for, or make donation or loan its credit to, or in aid of. any such com- 
pany or association : Provided* That cities and towns may contract 
indebtedness for school, water, sanitary and illuminating purposes: Pro- 
vided, That any city or town contracting such indebtedness shall own 
its just proportion of the property thus created, and receive from any 
income arising therefrom, its proportion to the whole amount so invested. 

To take stock in a corporation is to give it aid and credit, 
which, as we have seen heretofore (Art. 8, Sec. 4) is for- 
bidden to counties and other municipal corporations. But 
for the purposes mentioned in the first proviso of this sec- 
tion a city or town may contract indebtedness and become 
a stockholder in a corporation whose purpose is to furnish 
water or light to the town or city, provided the city shall 
own its proportion of the works or plant or other property 
of such corporation, and share in the profits. 

ARTICLE XIII. IMMIGRATION AND LABOR. 

Section 1. There shall be established a Bureau of Immigration. Labor 
and Statistics, which shall be under the charge of a Commissioner of 
Immigration, Labor and Statistics, who shall be appointed by the Gov- 
ernor, by and with the consent of the Senate. The Commissioner shall 
hold his office for two years, and until his successor shall have been ap- 
pointed and qualified, unless sooner removed. The Commissioner shall 
collect information upon the subject of labor, its relation to capital, the 
hours of labor and the earnings of laboring men and women, and the 
means of promoting their material, social, intellectual and moral pros- 
perity. The Commissioner shall annually make a report in writing to the 
Governor of the State of the information collected and collated by him, 
and containing such recommendations as he may deem calculated to 
promote the efficiency of the Bureau. 

This Bureau was first established by the Legislature of 
1899. The Commissioner receives a salary of $1800 per 
year, and necessary traveling expenses not exceeding $600 
per year. 

It is his duty to collect data concerning the climate, soil, 
and resources, of the State; the number of public schools, 



88 

of churches, miles of railroad; data concerning irrigation 
and crops; in short, he is a general statistician, whose duty 
it is to collect any information which if disseminated abroad, 
tends to the development of the State by inducing popula- 
tion and capital within its borders. With this object in 
view he is required to cause to be printed and distributed 
pamphlets, circulars and maps containing such informa- 
tion as he has collected. 

But his most important duties are concerning labor. Here 
he is required to make thorough investigation, and collect 
such data as w r ill be valuable in suggesting legislation that 
will ameliorate the lot of the workingman. With this end 
in view he is required to collect information showing the 
earnings of men and women, the number of hours per day 
that constitutes a laborer's workday in different trades and 
vocations, the healthfulness of the different trades; causes 
of strikes, and other labor difficulties; the effect of labor or- 
ganizations; the moral and social condition of the laborer, 
and report these, together with such recommendations as he 
may deem proper. 

Sec. 2. Not more than eight (8) hours actual work shall constitute a 
lawful day's work on all State and municipal works. 

In private contracts it is left to the parties to fix the num- 
ber of hours that shall constitute a day's work but most con- 
tractors and employers require only (8) eight hours as does 
the State. 

Sec. 3. All labor of convicts confined in the State's prison, shall be 
done within the prison grounds, except where the work is done on 
public works under the direct control of the State. 

And as we have seen before (Art. X, Sec. 5) their labor 

must not come into competition with any of the industries 

of the State. 

Sec. 4. The employment of children under the age of fourteen (14) 
years in underground mines is prohibited. 

Underground work is too unhealthy for children and the 

State has done wisely to prohibit it. 



89 

Sec. 5. No person not a citizen of the United States, or who has not 
declared his intention to become such, shall be employed upon, or in 
connection with, any State or municipal w T orks. 

This prevents foreigners and foreign contractors from se- 
curing work which properly belongs to citizens. It also pro- 
hibits the importation of foreign labor which has proven so 
prolific of strikes and other labor troubles. 

Sec. 6. The Legislature shall provide by proper legislation forgiving 
to mechanics, laborers and material men an adequate lien upon the sub- 
ject matter of their labor. 

The Legislature has provided that laborers' and mechan- 
ics' liens have preference over all other claims against the 
same property excepting of course prior liens and mortgages. 
If a lien is not satisfied it may be foreclosed and the property 
sold, the same as a mortgage may be foreclosed. 

Sec. 7. The Legislature may establish boards of arbitration, whose 
duty it shall be to hear and determine ail differences and controversies 
between laborers and their employers which may be submitted to them 
in writing by all the parties. Such boards of arbitration shall possess 
ail the powers and authority, in respect to administering oaths, sub- 
pcening witnesses, and compelling their attendance, preserving order 
during the sittings of the board, punishing for contempt, and requiring 
the production of papers and writings, and all other powers and privi- 
leges in their nature applicable, conferred by law on Justices of the 
Peace. 

A law for this purpose was passed by the Legislature of 
1897. By it the Governor is authorized to appoint a State 
Board of Arbitration of three members to hold office for six 
years. 

Whenever any dispute arises between employer and em- 
ployee, it may on the application of either, be investigated 
by this Board of Arbitration; however, their decision is only 
recommendatory. 

Sec. 8. The Commissioner of Immigration, Labor and Statistics 
shall perform such duties and receive such compensation as may be 
prescribed by law. 

See Sec. 1 of this Article, 

ARTICLE XIV. MILITIA. 

Section 1. All able bodied male persons, residents of this State, be- 
t ween the ages of eighteen and forty-five years shall be enrolled in the 



90 

militia, and perform such military duty as may be required by law: but 
no person having conscientious scruples against bearing arms, shall be 
compelled to perform such duty in time of peace. Every person claim- 
ing such exemption from service, shall, in lieu thereof, pay into the 
school fund of the county of which he may be a resident, an equivalent 
in money, the amount and manner of payment to be fixed by law. 

For Militia and National Guard see Sec. 4, of Art. IV. 

There are those who hold that war is never justifiable 
and nothing will induce them to take up arms. Such men 
may be required to pay a certain sum of money, but no cer- 
tain sum has as yet been fixed by law, 

Sec. 2. The Legislature shall provide by law for the enrollment,, 
equipment and discipline of tht militia, to conform as nearly as practi- 
cable to the regulations for the government of the armies of the United 
States, and pass such laws to promote volunteer organizations as may 
afford them effectual encouragement. 

The Governor is Commander in Chief and appoints his 
staff officers, Other officers are elected by vote of the mem- 
bers of each company. The rules for drills and military 
tactics in general are the same as those prescribed by the 
United States both for volunteer organizations, called the 
Idaho National Guard 7 and for drafted soldiers in time of 
war. 

Sec. 3. All militia officers shall be commissioned by the Governor, 
the manner of their selection to be provided by law. and may hold 
their commissions for such period of time as the Legislature may pro- 
vide. 

The term of service of commissioned officers is three 

years, and staff officers two years. 

Sec. 4. All military records, banners, and relics of the State, ex- 
cept when in lawful use,, shall be preserved in the office of the Adjutant 
General as an enduring memorial of the patriotism and valor of the 
soldiers of Idaho; and it shall be the duty of the Legislature to provide 
by law, for the safe keeping of the same. 

Some of the older States having similar provisions in 
their constitutions or laws have thus collected valuable his- 
torical museums. 

Sec. 5. All military organizations under the laws of this State shall 
carry no other device, banner, or flag than that of the United States or 
the State of Idaho, 



91 

The l 'stars and stripes" are used by all military organi- 
zations, but each company has its distinguishing flag called 
its "colors"; the design being a blue field with the coat of 
arms of the State of Idaho, and the letters of the company. 

Sec. 6. No armed police force, or detective agency, or armed body 
of men, shall ever be brought into this State for the suppression of do- 
mestic violence, except upon the application of the Legislature, or the 
Executive when the Legislature cannot be convened. 

But this does not prohibit the President of the United 
States from sending troops into this State, without being 
requested to do so, as here provided, if the Governor fails to 
do his duty, and the insurrection should interfere with the 
mails, or involve any other Federal question. 

It was upon these grounds that President Cleveland sent 
troops to Chicago during the great railway strike of 1894. 

Should an insurrection take on such proportions that 
the State forces would be inadequate to quell it the Legis- 
lature or the Governor may call for aid from the United 
States. 

This was done in the insurrection in Shoshone County in 
April, 1899, when all the Idaho National Guard were doing 
service in the Philippines and Governor Steunenberg called 
upon the President for Federal troops, which were sent. 

ARTICLE XV. WATER RIGHTS. 

Section 1. The use of all waters now appropriated, or that may 
hereafter be appropriated for sale, rental, or distribution; also of all 
water originally appropriated for private use, but which after such ap- 
propriation has heretofore been, or may hereafter be sold, rented or dis- 
tributed, is hereby declared to be a public use, and subject to the regu- 
lations and control of the State in the manner prescribed by law. 

In the Eastern States and in all countries where irriga- 
tion is not resorted to, the waters of the rivers and streams 
are public property, and no one has or can acquire property 
in them to the exclusion of any one else. But in Idaho 
and the other States where agriculture could not be carried 
on without irrigation, the waters of the State may be ap- 
propriated. Any one may construct canals or ditches, or 



92 

otherwise divert the water of any stream, either for his own 
use, or for sale, rental, or distribution, but when so divert- 
ed the use of it is dedicated to the public and is controlled 
by the State. That is, the owner of such ditch or canal 
must, as long, as there is any unapplied water, furnish it to 
any applicant on being tendered a reasonable price therefor; 
which price, if the parties cannot agree among themselves, 
is fixed by the District Court. 

Sec. 2. The right to collect rates or compensation for the use of 
water supplied to any county, city, or town, or water district, or the in- 
habitants thereof, is a franchise, and cannot be exercised except by au- 
thority of and in the manner prescribed by law. 

In Sec. 15, Art. XI, we saw what is a franchise. The 
right to collect rents for supplying water is here declared a 
franchise, hence, may be controlled or even revoked by the 
Legislature. Were this not so, were it left in the pleasure 
of any individual or corporation to secure the ownership of 
any ditch or canal, and to fix the rates of rental, farming 
would in this State be a very precarious vocation. Water 
might or might not be furnished to applicants, or it might 
be furnished at so high a rate as to make farming unprofit- 
able. It would open the door to a system more iniquitous 
than are the exactions of the Irish landlords of their tenants. 
All of this is carefully provided against by this and the other 
sections of this Article, 

Sec. 3. The right to divert and appropriate the unappropriated 
waters of any natural stream to beneficial uses, shall never be denied. 
Priority of appropriation shall give the better right as between those 
using the water; but when the waters of any natural stream are not suf- 
ficient for the service of all those desiring the use of the same, those 
usingthe water for domestic purposes shall (subject to such limitations 
as may be prescribed by law T ) have the preference over those claiming^ 
for any other purpose; and those usingthe water for agricultural purposes 
shall have preference over those using the same for manufacturing pur- 
poses. And in any organized mining district, those using the water, 
for mining purposes, or milling purposes connected with mining, shall 
have preference over those using the same for manufacturing or agri- 
cultural purposes. But the usage by such subsequent appropriators 
shall be subject to such provisions of law regulating the taking of priv- 
ate property for public and private use, as referred to in Section 14 of 
Article I, of this Constitution. 



93 

The provision of the first sentence of this section is pecu- 
liar to our arid land States, as already stated in Section i, of 
this Article, and is the very opposite of what is held in other 
states and countries where irrigation is not practiced. In 
those states, waters may not he diverted from their natural 
course for any purpose. He who appropriates first has the 
better claim, or, as it is said, priority in time gives priority 
in right. No one can appropriate water that has already 
been appropriated by some one else. 

But this depends upon what uses the prior appropriator 
turns the water to. Domestic purposes, such as cirink for 
man and beast, or for culinary purposes are given preference 
over all other purposes: so that, should a prior appropriator 
use the water for mining or manufacturing purposes, a sub- 
sequent appropriator who required the water for domestic 
purposes would still have the better right, provided he would 
Day a just compensation therefor, as provided in Sec. 14, 
of Art. I. 

And to promote agriculture, those using the water for that 
purpose are likewise given preference over those using for 
other purposes, except in organized mining districts, where 
the mining industry is more important than either manu- 
facturing or agriculture, those using for mining purposes 
are given the preference. 

Sec. 4. Whenever any waters have been, or shall be, appropriated or 
used for agricultural purposes,under asale,rental,or distribution thereof, 
such sale, rental, or distribution shall be deemed an exclusive dedication 
to such use^ and whenever such waters so dedicated shall have once 
been sold, rented, or distributed to any person who has settled upon or 
improved land for agricultural purposes with the view of receiving the 
benefit of such water under such dedication, such person, his heirs, 
executors, administrators, successors, or assigns, shall not thereafter, 
without his consent* be deprived of the annual use of the same, when 
needed for domestic purposes, or to irrigate the land so settled upon or 
improved, upon payment therefor, and compliance with such equitable 
terms and conditions as to the quantity used and times of use, as may 
be prescribed by law. 

This insures to any one having once gained the right to 



94 

the receipt of water the continued right to receive the same, 
as long as he pays the rate fixed by law or otherwise. 

When a ditch or canal is constructed^ for the purpose of 
conveying the water for irrigating purposes; when people 
have taken up land under such ditch and have improved it 
by large outlays of time, labor or money, when all this ha3 
been done under the use and expectation of continued use, 
of the water of the canal it would certainly be grossly 
unjust to dedicate the waters to mining or any other pur- 
poses than those for which they were originally appropriated. 

Such an injustice this section prevents, When once: 
waters have been sold, rented, or distributed for agricultu- 
ral purposes, they must be continued to be sold^ rented, or 
distributed for those purposes, unless the person receiving 
the benefit or use of such water consents to relinquish his 
right thereto. 

Sec. 5. Whenever more than one person has settled upon, or im- 
proved land with the view of receiving water for agricultural purposes, 
under a sale, rental* or distribution thereof , as in the last preceding sec- 
tion of this Article: Provided, as among such persons priority in time 
shall give superiority of right to the use of such water in the numerical 
order of such settlements or improvements^ but whenever the supply 
of such water shall not be sufficient to meet the demands of all those 
desiring tonse the same, such priority of right shall be subject to such 
reasonable limitations as to the quantity of water used and times of use 
as the Legislature, having due regard, both to such priority of right 
and the necessities of those subsequent in time of settlement or im 
provement, may by law prescribe. 

It is provided by law that a canal, ditch, or other conduit 
owner, cannot contract to sell or rent more water than his 
canal or ditch is capable of conveying. Still it may hap- 
pen that from some unavoidable cause the supply of water 
will be lessened and there be not enough to furnish the nee- 
cessary quantity to each person entitled to it. Such, for' 
instance, might be the case in time of long drought. Then, 
in those circumstances, those who were first in time, would 
have highest rights; the one next in time, the next highest 
rights, and so on, in the order of time of appropriation. 



95 

Yet these rights would not entitle the earliest appropria- 

tors to their full quota, to the entire exclusion of any of the 

following appro pria tors. There are officers (the water 

commissioners) whose duty it is to apportion the water in 

the most equitable manner possible, 

Sec. 6. The Legislature shall provide by law the manner in which 
reasonable maximum rates may be established to be charged for the use 
of water sold, rented, or distributed for any useful or beneficial pur- 
pose. 

The District Court is bv law given jurisdiction to hear 
and determine disputes relating to the sale, rental or distri- 
bution of waters, and to fix the rates that may be charged. 

ARTICLE XVI. LIVE STOCK. 

Section 1. The Legislature shall pass all necessary laws to provide 
for the protection of live stock : against the introduction or spread 
•of pleuro-pneumonia, glanders, splenetic or Texas fever, and other in- 
fectious or contagious diseases. The Legislature may also establish a 
system of quarantine or inspection, and such other regulations as may 
be necessary for the protection of stock owners and most conducive to 
the stock interests within this State. 

The Legislature has passed laws forbidding the importa- 
tion of stock infected with contagious diseases and forbid- 
ding the moving, from place to place,, those so infected 
within the State. The Legislature has also passed laws 
providing for the appointment of officers whose duty it is to 
inspect the stock of the State, and stock that is imported 
from other States or counties. 

ARTICLE XVII, STATE BOUNDARIES, 

Section 1. The name of this State is Idaho, and its boundaries are 
las follows: Beginning at a point in the middle channel of the Snake 
river where the northern boundary of Oregon intersects the same; then 
follow down the channel of Snake river to a point opposite the mouth 
of the Kooskooskia or Clearwater rivers thence due north to the forty- 
ninth parallel of latitude; thence east along that parallel to the thirty - 
ninth degree of longitude west of Washington; thence south along that 
•degree of longititude to thecre^t of the Bitter Root mountains; thence 
southward along the crest of the Bitter Root mountains till its intersec- 
tion with the Rocky mountains; thence southward along the crest of the 
Rocky mountains to the thirty-fourth degree of longitude west of Wash- 
ington: thence -south along that degree of longitude to the forty -second 



96 

degree of north latitude; thence west along that parallel to the eastern 
boundary of the State of Oregon; thence north along that boundary to 
the place of beginning. 

Idaho is an Indian name, signifying; "The Gem of the 
Mountains." 

"The boundary as here described has not since been 
changed. It can only be changed by consent of Congress, 
and of the State or States which would be affected by the 
change. Idaho Territory at one time included nearly all of 
Montana and Wyoming, and embraced 325,000 square miles. 
But it was reduced by Congress in 1868 to its present size, 
being 86,294 square miles, an area nearly equal to that of 
New York and Pennsylvania combined, 

ARTICLE XVIII. COUNTY ORGANIZATION.. 

Section 1. The several counties of the Territory of Idaho, as they 
now exist, are hereby recognized as legal subdivisions of this State. 

At the time of the adoption of this Constitution there 

were eighteen counties in the State. Several changes have 

been since made, so that we now have twenty-one counties. 

Sec. 2. No county seat shall be removed unless upon petition of a 
majority of the qualified electors of the county, and unless two-thirds 
of the qualified electors of the county, voting on the proposition at a 
general election, shall vote in favor of such removal,- A proposition of 
removal of the county seat shall not be submitted in the same county 
more than once in six years, except as provided by existing laws. No 
person shall vote at any county seat election who has not resided in the 
county six months, and in the precinct ninety days. 

It often happens that the county seat is a prize sought to 
be captured by two or more cities of the same county, and 
the population of the county is divided into as many factions 
as there are contesting cities supporting the claims of the 
favored city. This would make the location of the county 
seat very unstable, were it not for the provisions of this sec- 
tion of the Constitution, By requiring two-thirds of all the 
votes cast on the question of removal of the county seat to 
carry the election, by requiring special qualifications to 
entitle persons to vote on such question, and by prohibiting 



97 

the removal oftener than once in six years the danger of fre- 
quent removals is well guarded against. 

Skc. 3. No county shall be divided unless a majority of the qualified 
electors of the territory proposed to be cut off, voting on the proposition 
at a general election, shall vote in favor of such division: Provided, 
That this section shall not apply to the creation of new counties. No 
person shall vote at such election who has not been ninety days a resi- 
dent of the territory proposed to be annexed. When any part of a coun- 
ty is stricken off and attached to another county, the part stricken off 
shall be held to pay its ratable proportion of all then existing liabilities 
of the county from which it is taken. 

If the Legislature proposes to divide a county and annex 
the portion cut off to another county, and passes a law for 
that purpose, that law will have no effect until it has been 
submitted to the voters of the territory cut off and have re- 
ceived in its favor a majority of the votes cast. But if such 
section cut off is to be established as a new county it will 
not be necessary to submit that question to the voters there- 
of. The Legislature has complete power to create new 
counties. But the Supreme Court has said in a decision, 
that since the Constitution recognizes the existing counties 
as legal subdivisions of the State, (Sec. i above) the Legis- 
lature has no power to abolish any county without obtaining 
the consent of such county by submitting the question to 
the vote as here provided. 

In other elections only thirty days residence is required 
to qualify persons to vote (see Art. VI, Sec. 2); but on 
the question of abolishing or changing a county only those 
can vote who have resided in the county for ninety days. 
This is to prevent the inhabitants of one county from going 
to another county for the purpose or controlling such elec- 
tion. 

The last sentence of this section, providing that the part 
stricken off and attached to another county must pay its 
ratable proportion of existing liabilities of the county from 
which it is taken, is, to say the least, a very prudent one. 
Were it otherwise, the voters of a portion of a county might 
secure and ratify a law annexing their territory to another 



98 

county whenever that would help them to evade their share 

of their own county's just debt. 

Sec. 4. No new county shall be established which shall reduce* any 
county to an area of less than four hundred square miles, nor shall a 
new county be formed containing an area of less than four hundred 
square miles. 

In the opinion of the framers of the Constitution, 400 

square miles was small enough for a county in any case, 

And this, no doubt, will be true for many years to come, 

Should the population ever become so dense as to require 

smaller counties, this section of the Constitution may be 

amended. 

Sf:c. 5. The Legislature shall establish, subject to the provisions of 
this Article, a system of county governments which shall be uniform 
throughout the State; and by general laws shall provide for township or 
precinct organization. 

The Legislature has established a uniform system of 
county governments, of which we shall see more in the suc- 
ceeding sections of this Article, and has also made provision 
for the establishment of election precincts (see Art. VI, 
Sec. 2), but has not yet established any system of township 
government. Owing to the sparseness of the population, 
this would be impossible in many of the counties of the 
State. Whenever the State is populated thickly enough to 
require it, no doubt the Legislature will establish township 
governments. 

Sec. 6. The Legislature, by general and uniform laws, shall provide 
for the election biennially in each of the several counties of the State, 
of County Commissioners, a Sheriff, County Treasurer, who is ex-officio 
Public Administrator; a Probate Judge, [who is ex-officio County Sup- 
erintendent of Public Instruction]; a County Superintendent of Public 
Instruction ; a County Assessor, who is ex-officio Tax Collector; a Cor- 
oner and a Surveyor. The Clerk of the District Court shall be ex-officio 
Auditor and Recorder. No other county offices shall be established, but 
the Legislature by general and uniform laws shall provide for the elec- 
tion of such township, precinct and municipal officers as public conven- 
ience may require, and shall prescribe their duties and fix their terms 
of office. The Legislature shall provide for the strict accountability of 
county, township, precinct, and municipal officers for all fees which may 
be collected by them, and for all public and municipal moneys which 
may be paid to them, or officially come into their possession. The Coun- 



99 

ty Commissioners may employ counsel when necessary. The Sheriff. 
Auditor and Recorder and Clerk of the District Court shall be em- 
powered by the County Commissioners to appoint such deputies and 
clerical assistance as the business of their offices may require, said dep- 
uties and clerical assistance to receive such compensation as may be 
tixed by the County Commissioners. No Sheriff or County Assessor 
shall be qualified to hold the term of office immediately succeeding the 
term for which he was elected. 

This section was amended in 1896, by leaving out the 
Words in brackets and inserting those in italics. 

The welfare of the schools demanded that the office of 
Superintendent of Schools be separated from the Probate 
Judgeship, and an officer elected for each office. 

The officers of the county are then County Commissioners; 
a Sheriff; a County Treasurer, who is also Public Adminis- 
trator; a Probate Judge; a Superintendent of Schools; a 
County Assessor, who is at the same time Tax Collector; a 
Coroner; a Surveyor. Justices of the Peace are precinct, 
not county officers. A County Auditor, who is also Clerk 
of the District Court for his county; and a County Attorney. 

The Legislature has provided that all officers must make 
quarterly reports of all fees received. As County Attorneys 
are now provided for (Amended Art. V, Sec. 18), whose 
duty it is to give legal advice to the County Commissioners, 
and to prosecute or defend all suits for or against the county, 
it will seldom become necessary for the Commissioners to 
employ any other counsel. 

The number of deputies the Sheriff or Auditor may ap- 
point and their compensations is regulated by the County 
Commissioners. 

The nature of the office of Sheriff is such that it very 
often becomes incumbent upon the Sheriff to perform un- 
pleasant duties toward citizens of the county, perchance to 
arrest the very ones who secured his election. That politi- 
cal considerations may not influence him in the performance 
of such duties, it is here provided, that he may not be his 
immediate successor in office. He may be re-elected, but 
there must have been an intervening term. 



loo 

Similar reasons apply to the County Assessof. 

Sec. 7. The officers provided by Section six (6) of this Article shall re 
ceive annually as compensation for their services as follows: Sheriff, not 
more than four thousand dollars and not less than one thousand dollars? 
together with such mileage as may be prescribed by law; Clerk of the 
District Court, who is ex-officio Auditor and Recorder, not more than 
three thousand dollars, and not less than five hundred dollars; Probate 
Judge, who is ex-officio County Superintendent of Public Instruction, 
not more two thousand dollars, and not less than five hundred dollars;. 
County Assessor. w T ho is ex-officio Tax Collector, not more than three 
thousand dollars and not less than five hundred dollars; County Treas- 
urer, who is ex-officio Public Administrator, not more than one thous- 
and dollars and not less than three hundred dollars; Coroner, not more 
than five hundred dollars; County Surveyor, not more than one thous- 
and dollars; County Commissioners, such per diem and mileage as may 
be prescribed by law; and Justices of the Peace and Constables such 
fees as may be prescribed by law. 

Sec. 8. The compensation provided in Section seven (7) for the offu 
cers therein mentioned shall be paid by fees or commissions, or both, as 
prescribed by law. All fees and commissions received by such officers 
in excess of the maximum compensation per annum provided for each 
in Section seven (7) of this Article shall be paid to the County Treasurer 
for the use and benefit of the county. In case the fees received in any 
one year by any one such officers shall not amount to the minimum com- 
pensation per annum therein provided, he shall be paid by the county a 
sum sufficient to make his aggregate annual compensation equal to 
such minimum compensation. 

Sec. 9. The neglect or refusal of any officer named in this Article to 
account for and pay into the county treasury any money received as fees 
or compensation in excess of the maximum amount allowed to such offi- 
cer by the provisions of this Article, within forty days after the receipt 
of the same, shall be a felony, and the grade of the crime shall be the 
embezzlement of public moneys, and be punishable as provided for such 
offense. 

In March, 1897, ^e Legislature passed a joint resolution, 

proposing to amend Sec. 7, 8, and 9, of this Article, 

which resolution was submitted to the electors of the State 

at the general election of November 8, 1898, and by them 

ratified. The amendments read as follows: 

All county officers, and deputies when allowed, shall receive, as full 
compensation for their services, fixed annual salaries, to be paid quar- 
terly out of the county treasury, as other expenses are paid, All actual 
and necessary expenses, incurred by any county officer or deputy, in the 
performance of his official duties, shall be a legal charge against the 
county, and may be retained by him out of any fees which may come 
into his hands. All fees, which may come into his hands, from what 



101 

ever source, over and above his actual and necessary expenses, shall be 
turned into the county treasury at the end of each quarter. He shall, at 
the end of each quarter, file with the Clerk of the Board of County Com- 
missioners, a sworn statement, accompanied by proper vouchers, show- 
ing all expenses incurred and all fees received, which must be audited by 
the board as other accounts. The neglect or refusal of any county offi- 
cer or deputy to account for and pay into the county treasury, any money 
received, as fees, or compensation, in excess of his actual and necessary 
expenses, incurred in the performance of his official duties within ten 
days after his quarterly settlement with the county, shall be a felony 
and the grade of the crime shall be embezzlement of public funds, and 
be punishable as provided for such offenses. 

Pursuant to these amendments the Legislature of 1899 
passed a law fixing the maximum and the minimum of 
the salary of each county officer, and empowered the com- 
missioners of the various counties to fix between these limits, 
the salaries of the officers of their respective counties. This 
the County Commissioners are to do at their regular sessions 
in the April preceding any general election, except the 
salaries of County Attorneys, which, by the amendment 
creating that office, and by the law above referred to, must 
be fixed at the July session of the Commissioners. 

The object sought to be gained by requiring the Commis- 
sioners to fix the salaries so far ahead of the election is to 
prevent the bringing of any selfish influence to bear on the 
Commissioners when fixing the salaries. 

The various political parties generally hold their nomi- 
nating conventions, not earlier than July or August pre- 
ceding the election, so that in April there wall probably be 
no candidates to try to persuade the Commissioners to fix the 
salaries as high as possible in anticipation of their own elec- 
tion. 

The maximums and minimums, as fixed by said law, are 
as follows: 

Sheriff not less than $800. 00 and not more than $2000.00 
per annum. 

Clerk of the District Court, not less than $800.00 and 
not more than $2000.00 per annum. 



102 

Assessor, not less than $800.00 and not more than $3000.- 
00 per annum. 

Treasurer not less than $500.00 and not more than 
$1500.00 per annum. 

Attorney, not less than $500.00 and not more than $1- 
500.00 per annum. 

Probate Judge, not less than $500.00 and not more than 
$1500.00 per annum. 

Superintendent, not less than $250.00 and not more than 
$1200.00 per annum. 

Surveyor, not less than $50.00 and not more than $800 
per annum. 

Coroner, not less than $50.00 and not more than $300.00 
per annum. 

Commissioners, not less than $150.00 and not more than 
$1000.00 per annum. 

The maximum of the Assessor's salary was fixed so high, 
because he is not by law allowed a deputy, as are the Sher- 
iff and Auditor, and if one is required, as is generally the 
case, he must pay such deputy out of his own salary. 

An officer is not allowed to retain his salary out of fees 
by him received, but he may so retain all necessary expenses 
by him incurred. 

All fees over and above such expenses must be paid into 
the general fund of the county, and the officer will be paid 
his salary by warrant drawn by the County Auditor. 

The punishment for refusal or neglect by an officer to 
pay fees received by him, into the county fund, would be 
imprisonment in the penitentiary for from one to ten years 
and disqualification thereafter to hold any office of honor, 
trust, or profit under this State. 

Sec. 10. The Board of County Commissioners shall consist of three 
members, whose term of office shall be two years. 

Vacancies in the Board of County Commissioners are filled 
by appointment by the Governor. 

Sec. 11. County, township and precinct officers shall perform such 
duties as shall be prescribed by law. 



103 

All duties of officers now provided for are prescribed with 
minutest detail by laws which take up many pages of our 
statute books, and are too voluminous to em bod v in this 
work. But every citizen ought to study them as it is his duty 
to be familiar with the duties and functions of the officers 
whom he helps to elect, and whose places he may be called 
upon to fill. 

ARTICLE XIX. APPORTIONMENT. 

Section 1. Until otherwise provided by law, the apportionment of 
the two houses of the Legislature shall be as follows: 

The first senatorial district shall consist of the County of Shoshone, 
and shall elect two Senators. 

The second shall consist of the Counties of Kootenai and Latah, and 
shall elect one Senator. 

The third shall consist of the Counties of Nez Perce and Idaho, and 
shall elect one Senator. 

The fourth shall consist of the Counties of Nez Perce and Latah, and 
shall elect one Senator. 

The fifth shall consist of the County of Latah, and shall elect one 
Senator. 

The sixth shall consist of the County of Boise, and shall elect one 
Senator. 

The seventh shall consist of the County of Custer, and shall elect one 
Senator. 

The eighth shall consist of the County of Lemhi, and shall elect one 
Senator. 

The ninth shall consist of the County of Logan, and shall elect one 
Senator. 

The tenth shall consist of the County of Bingham, and shall elect one 
Senator. 

The eleventh shall consist of the Counties of Bear Lake, Oneida, 
and Bingham, and shall elect one Senator. 

The twelfth shall consist of the Counties of Owyhee and Cassia, and 
shall elect one Senator. 

The thirteenth shall consist of the County of Elmore, and shall elect 
one Senator. 

The fourteenth shall consist of the County of Alturas, and shall elect 
one Senator. 

The fifteenth shall consist of the County of Ada, and shall elect two 
Senators. 

The sixteenth shall consist of the County of Washington, and shall 
elect one Senator. 

Sec. 2. The several counties shall elect the following members of 
the House of Representatives: 

The County of Ada, three members. 

The Counties of Ada and Elmore, one member. 



104 

The County of Alturas. two members. 

The County of Boise, two members. 

The County of Bear Lake, one member. 

The County of Bingham, three members. 

The County of Cassia, one member. 

The County of Cnster, two members. 

The County of Elmore, one member. 

The County of Idaho, one member. 

The Counties of Idaho and Nez Perce, one member. 

The County of Kootenai, one member. 

The County of Latah, two members. 

The Counties of Kootenai and Latah, one member, 

The County or Logan, two members. 

The County of Lemhi, two members. 

The County of Xez Perce, one member. 

The County of Oneida, one member. 

The County of Owyhee, one member. 

The County of Shoshone, four members. 

The County of Washington, two members. 

The Counties of Bingham, Logan aud Alturas, one member. 

In 1895, the Counties of Alturas and Logan were abol- 
ished and the Counties of Blaine and Lincoln were created 
out of their territory. At the same session of the Legis- 
lature a law was passed apportioning the Legislature and 
another law apportioning members to the newly created 
counties. These laws incorporated into one, were re-enact- 
ed at the session of 1899, when so many laws whose passage 
had been defective (see Sec. 15, Art. Ill) were re-enacted. 
This law is now in force and reads as follows: 

H. B, NO. 57. 

An Act to Provide for the Apportionment of the Legislature. 
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho: 

Section 1. The apportionment of the two houses of the Legisla- 
ture is as follows: 

The first senatorial district consists of the County of Ada. and shall 
elect one Senator. 

The second senatorial district consists of the County of Blaine, and 
shall elect one Senator. 

The third senatorial district consists of the County of Bannock, and 
shall elect one Senator. 

The Fourth senatorial district consists of the County of Bear Lake, 
and shall elect one Senator. 

The fifth senatorial district consists of the County of Bingham, and 
shall elect one Senator. 



105 

The sixth senatorial district consists of the County of Boise, and 
shall elect one Senator. 

The seventh senatorial district consists of the County of Canyon, 
and shall elect one Senator. 

The eighth senatorial district consists of the County of Cassia, and 
shall elect one Senator. 

The ninth senatorial district consists of the County of Custer, and 
shall elect one Senator. 

The tenth senatorial district consists of the County of Elmore, and 
shall elect one Senator. 

The eleventh senatorial district consists of the County of Fremont, 
and shall elect one Senator. 

The twelfth senatorial district consists of the County of Idaho, and 
shall elect one Senator. 

The thirteenth senatorial district consists of the County of Kootenai, 
and shall elect one Senator. 

The fourteenth senatorial district consists of the County of Latah, 
and shall elect one Senator. 

The fifteenth senatorial district consists of the County of Lemhi, and 
shall elect one Senator. 

The sixteenth senatorial district consists of the County of Lincoln, 
and shall elect one Senator. 

The seventeenth senatorial district consists of the County of Nez 
Perce, and shall elect one Senator. 

The eighteenth senatorial district consists of the County of Oneida, 
and shall elect one Senator. 

The nineteenth senatorial district consists of the County of Owyhee, 
and shall elect one Senator. 

The twentieth senatorial district consists of the County of Shoshone, 
and shall elect one Senator. 

The twenty-first senatorial district consists of the County of Wash- 
ington, and shall elect one Senator. 

The several counties shall elect members of the House of Represent- 
atives as follows: 

Ada County, four members. 

Blaine County, two members. 

Bannock County, three members. 

Bingham County, two members. 

Bear Lake County, two members. 

Boise County, two members. 

Canyon County, three members. 

Cassia County, one member. 

Custer County, one member. 

Elmore County, one member. 

Fremont County, three members. 

Idaho County, two members. 

Kootenai County, three members. 

Latah County, live members. 

Lemhi County, two members. 



106 

Lincoln County, one member. 

Nez Perce County, two members. 

Oneida County, two members. 

Owyhee County, two members. 

Shoshone County, four members. 

Washington County, two members. 

Sec. 2. Whereas an emergency exists therefor this Act shall take 
effect and be in force from and after its passage. 

Approved on the 10th day of February, 1899. 

The above, also, is a sample of a complete law, as passed 
by the Legislature, showing the title, the enacting clause, 
and containing the emergency clause, and the date whe n 
signed by the Governor. 

ARTICLE XX. AMENDMENTS. 

Section 1. Any amendment or amendments to this Constitution 
may be proposed in either branch of the Legislature, and if the same 
shall be agreed to by two-thirds of all the members of each of the two 
houses, voting separately, such proposed amendment or amendments 
shall, with the years and nays thereon, be entered on their journals, and 
it shall be the duty of the Legislature to submit such amendment or 
amendments to the electors of the State at the next general election, and 
cause the same to be published without delay for at least six consecutive 
weeks, prior to said election, in not less than one newspaper of general 
circulation published in each county; and if a majority of the electors 
shall ratify the same, such amendment or amendments shall become a 
part of this Constitution. 

It is a mere truism to say that no human government can 
ever be perfect, and that it is impossible to foresee and pro-, 
vide for all future exigencies and conditions. A govern- 
ment which is so organized that it cannot be changed must 
after a while become unsuited to the circumstances of the 
nation. What Lowell has so beautifully said, applies very 
forcibly to government: 

New occasions teach new studies, 

Time makes ancient good uncouth, 

They must upward still, and onward. 

Who would keep abreast of truth. 
There can be no question as to the propriety of allowing 
amendments to this organic law of our State. But the 
problem before the framers of the Constitution was to guard 
against too great facility in amending it and still make it 
practicable. 



107 

It would be as dangerous to allow hasty and frequent 
amedments as it would be detrimental not to allow any. 
There can be no doubt that the manner here prescribed is 
practicable enough, and at the same time amply guards 
against hasty and inconsiderate innovations. 

By requiring two-thirds of all the members of both houses 
of the Legislature to agree to a proposition to amend the 
Constitution, and requiring such proposition to be published 
for six weeks preceding an election and voted on by the 
electors of the State, ample time and opportunity is given 
for deliberations and discussions. We may well suppose 
that after an amendment has gone through this process it will 
contain nothing that is inimical to the welfare of the State. 

The majority of the electors, here required has been de- 
clared by the Supreme Court to mean a majority of the 
votes cast on the subject. Both amendments to Sec. 8, 
Art. V, and Sec. 6, Art, XVIII, were submitted to the peo- 
ple in the election of 1894 and each received more votes 
for than against. But many voters neglected altogether to 
vote either way. The Attorney General gave it as his 
opinion that the Constitution required a majority of all the 
votes cast at the election to ratify an amendment, and these 
two were declared lost. 

The Legislature of '95 re-passed both, and the additional 
one to Sec. 2, Art. VII, and it re-submitted them to the 
people in the election of '96. The returns show 7 ed the 
same state of affairs. This time the women took an interest 
in it and the question was taken to the Supreme Court which 
decided that a majority of the votes cast on the subject was 
all that the Constitution required to ratify it 

Sec. 2. If two or more amendments are proposed, they shall be 
submitted in such manner that the electors shall vote for or against 
each of them separately. 

This gives opportunity to the voters to ratify one or more 
and reject another or others, and prevents obnoxious amend- 
ments from slipping through in the wake of desirable ones. 



J 08 

Sec. 3. Whenever two-thirds of the members elected to each branch 
of the Legislature shall deem it necessary to call a convention to revise 
or amend this Constitution, they shall recommend to the electors to 
vote at the next general election for or against a convention, and if a 
majority of all the electors voting at said election shall have voted for a 
convention, the Legislature shall at the next session provide by law for 
calling the same; and such convention shall consist of a number of 
members not less than double the number of the most numerous branch 
of the Legislature. 

Thus is provided another way for amending or revising 

this Constitution. The manner here provided is as follows: 

1. The proposition for calling a convention must receive 
two-thirds of the votes of each branch of the Legislature. 

2. This proposition must be submitted to the people. 3. 
If it receives a majority of the votes of the electors, the Leg- 
islature shall provide for the calling of a convention, to con- 
sist of twice as many members as there are in the House of 
Representatives of the State. 

Sec. 4. Any Constitution adopted by such convention shall have 
no validity until it has been submitted to, and adopted by, the people. 

Should this convention adopt any Amendments or an 
entirely new Constitution, such Amendments or Constitu- 
tion must be submitted to a vote of the people, and will be 
of no effect unless it receives a majority of the votes cast for 
and against it. 

Thus far there have been only five Amendments: Sec, 
18, Art. V, Sec. 2, Art. VI, Sees. 6, 7, 8 and 9, Art. 
XVIII. All of which were proposed and adopted as pro- 
vided in Sec. 1 of this Article. 

ARTICLE XXL SCHEDULE AND ORDINANCE, 

Section 1. That no inconvenience may arise from a change of the 
Territorial government to a permanent State government, it is declared 
that all writs, actions, prosecutions, claims, liabilities, and obligations 
against, the Territory of Idaho, of whatsoever nature, and rights of in- 
dividuals, and of bodies corporate, shall continue as if no change had 
taken place in this government; and all process whi^h may, before the 
organization of the judicial department under this Constitution, be 
issued under the authority of the Territory of Idaho, shall be as valid 
as if issued in the name of the State. 



109 

All private rights and claims are thus Secured against any 
Question that might be raised upon the technical point that 
the State of Idaho is a different political body from the Ter- 
ritory of Idaho, and that therefore claims against the Ter- 
ritory are claims against the State, that writs, actions, and 
prosecutions issued or commenced in the name of the Terri- 
tory must, in order to be valid, be re-issued or commenced 
in the name of the State. 

Congress would never have consented to the admission of 
Idaho as a State under a Constitution that would have de- 
prived any one of a j list claim against the Territory, or 
would have deprived individuals of any rights. 

Sec. 2. All laws now in force in the Territory of Idaho which are 
hot repugnant to this Constitution shall remain in force until they ex- 
pire by their own limitation or be altered or repealed by the Legislature. 

Before the adoption of this Constitution the Territorial 
Legislature had provided Idaho with a complete code of 
laws. There could have been no reason for annulling all 
these, besides causing needless expense and labor, it would 
have left Idaho for a time, without any other law than the 
Constitution. 

Sec. 3. All lines, penalties, forfeitures, and escheats accruing to the 
Territory of Idaho, shall accrue to the use of the State. 

By Section i of this Article it is provided that no one can 
be deprived of any rights because of the change of govern- 
ment, and by this section it is provided that no one can gain 
any unjust advantage thereby* These penalties and for- 
feitures are not remitted and escheats accrue to the State 
Under the Constitution as well as when it was a Territory. 

Sec. 4. A 11 recognizances, bonds, obligations, or other undertakings 
heretofore taken, or Wliich may be taken before the organization of the 
judicial department under this Constitution, shall remain valid and 
shall pass over to and may be prosecuted in the name of the State; and 
all bonds, obligations, or other undertaking executed by this Territory, 
or to any other officer in his official capacity, shall pass over to the pro- 
per State authority, and to their successors in office, for the uses there- 
in respectively expressed, and maybe sued for and recovered according- 
ly. All criminal prosecutions and penal actions which have arisen, or 
which may arise before the organization jf the judicial department 



J to 

under this Constitution, and which shall then be pending, may be prose- 
cuted to judgment and execution in the name of the State. 

All the instruments here mentioned are pledges given, of 
undertakings entered into before some court or judge, that 
the person so undertaking will do some act, such as to ap- 
pear for trial before the Court, to keep the peace, or by an 
officer to honestly perform his duties, in default of which 
he will forfeit a sum of money stipulated in the bond or un- 
dertaking. Usually sureties are required to guarantee the 
payment of the money stipulated should it be forfeited and 
the principal be unable to pay it. 

It would be unreasonable to allow any one to avoid the 

obligation of his bond or other undertaking merely because 

the form of government is changed. Equally unreasonable 

would it be to cause criminal prosecutions that had begun 

when Idaho was yet a Territory to be dropped and offenders 

go free when the form of government was changed* All of 

this is guarded against by this section. 

Sec. 5. All officers, civil and military, now holding their offices and 
appointments in this Territory under the authority of the United States, 
or under the authority of this Territory, shall continue to hold and ex 
ercise their respective offices and appointments until suspended under 
this Constitution. 

It is a general rule of law that officers hold their offices 
until their successors are elected and qualified (see Sec. 13), 

That the State may not be left without any officers, the 

rule is by this section made to apply notwithstanding the 

change of government, 

Sec. 6. This Constitution shall be submitted for adoption or rejec- 
tion, to a vote of the electors qualified by the laws of this Territory to 
vote at all elections at an election to be held on the Tuesday next after 
the first Monday in November, A. D. 1889. Said election shall be con- 
ducted in all respects in the same manner as provided by the laws of 
the Territory for general election, and the returns thereof shall be made 
and canvassed in the same manner and by the same authority as pro- 
vided in cases of such general elections, and abstracts of such returns 
duly certified shall be transmitted to the Board of Canvassers now pro- 
vided by law for canvassing the returns of votes for Delegate in Con- 
gress. The said Canvassing Board shall canvass the votes so returned 
and certifv and declare the result of said election in the same manner. 



Hi 

as is required by law for the election of said Delegate. At the said elec- 
tion the ballots* shall be in the following form: For the Constitution — 
yes; no. And as a heading to each of said ballots shall be printed on 
each ballot^ the following instructions to voters: All persons who desire 
to vote for the Constitution^ or any of the Articles submitted to a separ- 
ate vote, may erase the word "no." Ail persons who desire to vote 
against the Constitution, or against any Article submitted separately, 
may erase the word "yes." Any person may have printed or written on 
his ballot only the words, "For the Constitution." or "Against the Con- 
stitution." and such ballots shall be counted for or against the Consti- 
tution accordingly. 

This was done and the Constitution was ratified by a 
large majority of votes. 

Sec. 7. This Constitution shall take effect and be in full force im- 
mediately upon the admission of the Territory as a State. 

The bill passed by Congress for the admission of Idaho 
was approved by President Harrison on July 3, 1890. This 
Constitution then went into effect, and Idaho became one 
of the "sister states/' 

Sec. 8. Immediately upon the admission of the Territory as a State, 
the Governor of the Territory, or in case of his absence or failure to act, 
the Secretary of the Territory, or in case of his absence or failure to act, 
the president of tnis convention, shall issue a proclamation, which shall 
be published, and a copy thereof mailed to the chairman of the Board 
of County Commissioners of each county, calling an election by the 
people of "all State, district, county, township, and other officers, created 
and made elective by this Constitution, and fixing a day for such elec- 
tion, which shall not be less than forty days after the date of such proc- 
lamation, nor more than ninety days after the admission of the Terri- 
tory as a State. 

Pursuant to the provisions of this section, Governor 

Shoup issued a proclamation, July 18, 1890, calling an 

election on October 1, 1890, just eighty-nine days after the 

admission of Idaho. 

Skc. 9. The Board of Commissioners of the several counties shall 
thereupon order such election for said day, and shall cause notice there- 
of to be given, in the manner and for the length of time provided by the 
laws of the Territory in cases of general elections for Delegate to Con- 
gress and county and other officers. Every qualified elector of the Ter- 
ritory, at the date of said election, shall be entitled to vote thereat. Said 
election shall be conducted in all respects in the same manner as pro- 
vided by the laws of the Territory for general elections, and returns 
thereof shall be made and canvassed in the same manner and by the 
same authority as provided in cases of such general election: but re~ 



112 

turns for all State and district officers and members of the Legislatures 
shall be made to the Canvassing Board hereinafter provided. 

As now provided by law the Boards of Canvassers of the 
different counties are composed of the County Commission- 
ers and the County Auditor acting as clerk of said Board. 

It is the duty of these boards to canvass, on the 10th day 
after an election^ the returns of such election and to issue 
certificates of election to the candidates for county and pre- 
cinct offices having the highest votes for their respective 
offices. The Boards of Canvassers, must also make ab- 
stracts of the votes for State and United States officers and 
deliver the same to the Secretary of State. 

Sec. 10. The Governor, Secretary, Controller, and Attorney General 
of the Territory, and the president of this convention, or a majority of 
them, shall constitute a Board of Canvassers to canvass the vote at such 
elections for all State and district officers and members of the Legisla- 
ture. The said Board shall assemble at the seat of government of the 
Territory, on the thirtieth day after the date of such election (or on 
the following day if such day fall on Sunday), and proceed to canvass 
the votes for all State and district officers and members of the Legisla- 
ture, in the manner provided by the laws of the Territory for canvass- 
ing the vote for Delegate to Congress, and they shall issue certificates 
of election to the persons found to be elected to said offices severally, 
and shall make and file with the Secretary of the Territory an abstract 
certified by them, of the number of votes cast for each person for each 
of said offices, and of the total number of votes cast in each county. 

The State Board of Canvassers now consists of the Gover- 
nor, Secretary of State, Auditor, Treasurer of State, and 
Attorney General. It is the duty of ihis Board to canvass 
the returns made by the County Boards of Canvassers^ on the 
twentieth day after an election, and issue certificates of 
election to those having the highest number of votes for 
their respective offices (see Sec. 2, Art. IV).' 

Sec. 11. The Canvassing Boards of the several counties shall issue 
certificates of election to the several persons found by them to have- 
been elected to the several county and precinct offices. 

See note to Section 9 above. If two or more persons have 

an equal and the highest number of votes for the same 

county or precinct office, the Commissioners determine by 

lot who shall be elected. 



It:] 

Sec. 12. All officers elected at such election shall, within thirty days 
after they have been declared elected, take the oath required by this 
Constitution, and give the same bond required by the law of the Terri- 
tory to be given in case of like officers of the Territory, district or county, 
and shall thereupon enter upon the duties of their respective offices; 
but the Legislature may require by law all such officers to give other or 
further bonds as a condition of their continuance in office. 

All the officers in the State are required to take oath, or, 

if they have conscientious scruples against taking an oath, 

to make affirmation that they will support the Constitution 

of the United States and of the State, and perform the 

duties of their respective offices to the best of their ability. 

Sec. 13. All officers elected at said election, shall hold their offices 
until the Legislature shall provide by law, in accordance with this Con- 
stitution, for the election of their successors, and until such successors 
shall be elected and qualified. 

An officer is qualified when he has taken the oath of 

office and given his bond, if any is required. 

Sec. 14. The Governor-elect of the State, immediately upon his 
qualifying and entering upon the duties of his office, shall issue his 
Proclamation Convening the Legislature of the State at the seat of gov- 
ernment on a day to be named in said Proclamation and which shall 
not be less than thirty nor more than sixty days after the date of such 
Proclamation. Within ten days after the organization of the Legisla- 
ture both Houses of the Legislature shall then and there proceed to 
elect, as provided by law, two Senators of the United States for the 
State of Idaho. At said election the two persons who shall receive the 
majority of all the votes cast by said Senators and Representatives, 
shall be elected as such United States Senators, and shall be so declared 
by the presiding officers of said joint session. The presiding officers of 
the Senate and House, shall issue a certificate to each of said Senator^, 
certifying his election, which certificates shall also be signed by the 
Governor and attested by the Secretary of State. 

The first session convened on the 8th of December, 1890, 
and adjourned on the 14th day of March, 1891, thus being 
in session for more than sixty days, which number of days 
at $5.00 per day would amount to $300.00. the maximum 
allowed the members of the Legislature for any one session. 
(Sec. 23, Art. III). But the Supreme Court decided that the 
restriction in Sec. 23 of Article III did not apply to the first 
session, and the members were all allowed the regular per 
diem for the entire session. Since then there have been no 



114 

other than regular sessions convening as provided by Sec* 
8, of Art. III. 

Territories of the United States are not entitled to United 
States Senators; only to a Delegate to Congress. It there- 
fore devolved upon the first Legislature of the State to 
choose two United States Senators. 

The terms of office of United States Senators is six years, 
but they are divided into three classes as regards the expira- 
tion of their terms (Sec. 3, Art. I, United States Constitu- 
tion), and are so arranged that Senators from the same State 
are in different classes. It follows that one of Idaho's first 
Senators was entitled to a long, the other to a short term. 

The terms of office of United States Senators commence 
on the 4th of March. But Idaho being a State from July 3, 
1890, was entitled to representation in the United States Sen- 
ate from that date. The Legislature which convened on 
December 8, 1890, therefor elected one Senator to fill the 
unfinished term ending March 4, 1891, another to fill the 
unfinished term ending March 4, 1895, and a third Senator 
for a full term commencing March 4, 1891. Thus the first 
Legislature elected three Senators. 

Sec. 15. The Legislature shall pass all necessary laws to carry into 
effect the provisions of this Constitution. 

Some provisions of the Constitution are self-operative, 
others need legislation to carry them into effect. It will 
not be necessary here to refer to laws that have been passed 
for carrying out the provisions of such sections of the Con- 
stitution, as many such references have been made under the 
appropriate sections. 

Sec. 16. Whenever any two of the Judges of the Supreme Court of 
the State, elected under the provisions of this Constitution, shall have 
qualified in their offices, the causes then pending in the Supreme Court 
of the Territory, and the papers, records, and proceedings of said Court, 
and the seal and other property pertaining thereto, shall pass into the 
jurisdiction and possession of the Supreme Court of the State; and 
until so superseded the Supreme Court of the Territory and the Judges 
thereof shall continue, with like powers and jurisdiction, as if this Con- 
stitution had not been adopted. Whenever the Judge of the District 



115 

Court of any district, elected under the provisions of this Constitution, 
shall have qualified in office, the several causes then ptnding in the 
District Court of the Territory, within any county in such district, and 
the records, papers, and proceedings of said District Court, and the seal 
and other property pertaining thereto, shall pass into the jurisdiction 
and possession of the District Court of the State for such county; and 
Until the District Courts of this Territory shall be superseded in the 
manner aforesaid the said District Courts and the Judges thereof shall 
continue with the same jurisdiction and power to be exercised in the 
same judicial districts respectively^ as heretofore constituted under the 
laws of the Territory. 

Thus by this special provision is assured beyond perad- 
venture the uninterrupted existence of the Supreme and 
District Courts, 

Courts are absolutely necessary and it would not do to 
leave the State without them for even a short time. Sec- 
tion 5 of this Article provides that all officers of the Terri- 
tory, civil or military, shall hold over until suspended by 
Others of the State; so that the continued existence of the 
courts is assured by these double provisions, with the addi- 
tional provision of this section that the Supreme Court of 
the State shall supersede the Supreme Court of the Terri- 
tory whenever two judges have qualified. 

Sec. 1?. Until otherwise provided by law, the seals now in use in 
the Supreme and District Courts of this Territory are hereby declared 
to be the seals of the Supreme and District Courts, respectively, of the 
State. 

The seal of the court is part of the property of such court 
and what is here provided would perhaps have been im- 
plied in the preceding section but to put it beyond a ques- 
tion, it is embodied in this separate section. 

Seo. 18. Whenever this Constitution shall go into effect, the books, 
records, and papers, and proceedings of the Probate Court in each 
county, and all causes and matters of administration and other matters 
pending therein, shall pass into the jurisdiction and possession of the 
Probate Court of the same county of the State, and the said Probate 
Court shall proceed to final decree or judgment, order, or other determi- 
nation in the said several matters and causes as the said Probate 
Court might have done as if this Constitution had not been adopted. 

In fine, all property belonging to, and all causes pending 

in any of the Courts of the Territory, passed, on the change 



lie 

of government, to the same Conrts of the State, which lat- 
ter then acquired the same jurisdiction thereof, 

Sec. 19. It is ordained by the State of Idaho that perfect toleration 
of religious sentiment shall be secured, and no inhabitant of said State 
shall ever be molested in person or property on account of his or her 
mode of religious worship. And the people of the State of Idaho do 
agree and declare that we forever disclaim all right and title to the un- 
appropriated public lands lying within the boundaries thereof, and to all 
lands lying within said limits, owned or held by any Indians or Indian 
tribes; and until the title thereto shall have been extinguished by the 
United States, the same shall be subject to the disposition of the United 
States, and said Indian lands shall remain under the absolute jurisdic- 
tion and control of the Congress of the United States; that the lands 
belonging to citizens of the United States,residing without the said State 
of Idaho,shall never be taxed at a higher rate than the lands belonging to 
the residents thereof. That no taxes shall be imposed by the State on 
the lands or property therein belonging to, or which may hereafter be 
purchased by, the United States, or reserved for its use. And the debts 
and liabilities of this Territory shall be assumed and paid by the State 
of Idaho. That this ordinance shall be irrevocable, without the consent 
of the United States and the people of the State of Idaho. 

Section 4 of Article IV of this Constitution guarantees to 
every one the liberty to worship God as he pleases, or be j 
lieve in any religion that may satisfy his conscience best. 
The provision of this section adds to that by securing per-* 
feet toleration of religious sentiment; so that every person 
may not only believe and worship as he pleases, but may 
speak, write, and publish his sentiments; and the further 
provision that no one shall ever be molested in person or 
property because of his or her mode of worship. 

Before the Revolution the States claimed all lands lying 
within their respective boundaries, but afterwards all the 
States ceded the unappropriated lands to the general govern-^ 
ment. And now it is always made a condition to be com- 
plied with before a Territory can be admitted into the Union 
as a State. 

The lands of non-residents cannot be taxed higher than 
those of residents. Were it not for this restriction the State 
might tax the lands of persons residing outside of the State 
so high that it would become unprofitable for them to hold it. 



117 



United States property cannot be taxed by any of the 

States, though situated within a State's boundary. As the 

property of the Territory passed to the State so the State 

assumed the debts and liabilities of the Territory. The 

ordinance here mentioned refers only to the provisions of 

this section, not to the ordinance of the whole Constitution. 

Sec. 20. That in behalf of the people of Idaho, we, in convention 
assembled, do adopt the Constitution of the United States. 

In Sec. 3, of Art I, of this Constitution, the Constitution of 
the United States is declared to be the supreme law of the 
land, and in this section the same is formally adopted as 
such. The necessity for this may well be questioned, for 
without these sections the Constitution of the United States 
would yet be the supreme law, and the people of the State 
of Idaho would still be amenable to its mandates, prohibi- 
tions and limitations. 

Done in open convention, at Boise City, in the Territory of Idaho, 
this sixth day of August, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight 
hundred and eighty-nine. 



Wm. H. Clagett, Pres. 
Robt. Anderson, 
Frank W. Beane, 
A. D. Bevan, 
Frank P. Cavanah, 
I. N. Coston, 
John S. Gray, 
H. O. Harkness, 
C. M. Hays, 
J. M. Howe, 
H. B. Kinport, 
Wm. C. Maxey, 
Henry Melder, 
A. B. Moss, 
A. J. Pinkham, 
Jas. W. Reid, 
Aug. M. Sinnott, 
Frank Steunenberg, 
Sam. F. Taylor. 
J. S. Whitton. 
John Lemp, 
Samuel J. Pritchard, 



Geo. Ainslie, 
H. Armstrong, 
Jas. H. Beatty. 
Henry B. Blake, 
A. S. Chaney, 
Jas. I. Crutcher, 
Wm. W. Hammel, 
Frank Harris, 
W. B. Heyburn, 
E. S. Jewell, 
J. W. Lamoreaux, 
A. E. Mayhew, 
John H. Myer, 
Aaron F. Parker. 
J. W. Poe, 
W. D. Robbins, 
James M. Shoup, 
Homer Stull. 
J. L. Underwood, 
Edgar Wilson. 
N. I. Andrews, 
J, W. Brigham. 



W.C. B.Allen. 
Orlando B. Batten, 
J. W. Ballentine. 
Frederick Campbell, 
Chas. A. Clark, 
Stephen S. Glidden, 
H. S. Hampton. 
Sol. Hasbrouck. 
John Hogan. 
G. W. King, 
John Lewis. 
W. J. McConnell, 
John T. Morgan, 
A. J. Pierce, 
Thos. Pyeatt, 
Wm. H. Savidge, 
Dren W. Standrod, 
Willis Sweet, 
Lycurgus Vineyard, 
W. W. Woods, 
P. McMahon, 
P. J. Pefley. 



118 



INDEX. 



[THE FIGURES REFER TO PAGES] 



Article I— Declaration of Rights 7 

" II — Distribution of Power 21 

III- Legislative Department 21 

" IV — Executive Department 33 

" V — Judicial Department 46 

VI — Suffrage and Elections 60 

44 VII — Finance and Revenue 62 

" VIII — Public Indebtedness and Subsidies 68 

" IX — Education and School Lands 70 

X— Public Institutions 76 

l * XI — Corporations, Public and Private 78 

% ' XII — Corporations, Municipal 86 

" XIII — Immigration and Labor 87 

XIV— Militia 89 

XV— Water Rights 91 

XVI— Live Stock 95 

XVII — State Boundaries 95 

" XVIII — County Organization 96 

XIX— Apportionment 103 

XX— Amendments 106 

XXI— Schedule and Ordinance 108 

A 

Accused persons, rights of. . . ."• 16 

Accounts by officers 43 

Acts, how amended 29 

" when to go into effect 31 

Actions 46 

Adjournment of Legislature 25 

Administrator, Public, see Treasurer. 

Affirmation 10 

Agricultural College 75 

Albion Normal School 76 

Amendments .99, 100, 106, 107, 108 

Apportionment, legislative 104 

Appropriation, limit of QQ 

" for religious purposes 72 

Arbitration, Board of 89 



119 

Arms, right to bear 15 

Assemble, right to 15 

Assessor, see County Officers. 

Asylum for Insane 76 

" " directors of 77 

Attainder, bill of . . 19 

Attorney, see County Attorney. 

" District 52 

" " office abolished 55 

" General 34 

" " salary of 45 

Auditor, qualifications of 34 

k ' salary of 45 

k ' see County Officers. 

B 

Bail 12 

Banners and military records 90 

" flags. ." 91 

Bigamy, defined . . 11 

Bill of attainder 19 

Bills, may originate in either house 26 

'• all laws by 27 

" how become laws 39 

Blind, cai e of 76 

Board of Arbitration 89 

" Canvassers 112 

M Education 71 

" Equalization 67 

" Land Commissioners. 73 

" Pardons 36 

" - Prison Commissioners 44, 77 

" Regents 75 

Boise City, seat of government 76 

Bonds of officers 113 

Boundaries of State 96 

Bureau of Immigration 87 

c 

Capital at Boise 77 

Certificates of election 25, 112 

Certiorari, writ of 51 

Change from Territory to State 108-117 

Chief Justice, how chosen 50 

Children, employment in mines 88 

Churches, exempt from taxation = 64 

Cities, classes of 86 

'• debts of not to be assumed by State 87 

counties, towns, etc.. not to be stockholders 87 



120 

Civil action . 16 

Commissioners, see County Officers. 

Commissioner of Labor and Statistics 87 

Commissioners, Board of County 102 

Common carrier 80 

" schools « 70 

Commutation of sentence 37 

Compensation of officers. 59 

Compulsory education law , 75 

Contract 19 

Constitution, defined 5 

of U. S 9, 117 

" convention to revise 108 

" adopted by the people 108, 110 

Convicts, labor of 88 

Coroner, see County Officers. 

Corporations, defined 78 

44 what are 85 

" pow T er to tax 65 

4k charter a contract 79 

" elections of directors 79 

44 stock and shares 79 

44 must file acceptance of Constitution 81 

44 subject to right of eminent domain 82 

foreign . .■ 83 

k4 telegraph and telephone 84 

44 liability of stockholders 85 

Corruption of blood 19 

Counsel 16 

County Attorney 55 

44 44 vacancy in office of . . . . . 56 

salary 101 

Counties, credit of not to be loaned 70 

44 finance .... 67 

created 97, 98 

4 * governments of 98 

44 how divided 97 

44 indebtedness 69 

44 officers 98 

44 duties of 102 

44 fees of 100 

44 salaries of 101 

44 recognized 96 

44 seat 96 

Courts of the Stated ...'..'.....'..'.'.'...'...................... 47 

District 52 

44 Special 53 

44 Supreme 53 

44 laws relating to 59 



121 

Courts, vacancies in .......... ,,,,.,,.,.,,., 56 

M on change from Territory to State. , , , , . . . . , 115 

Credit of the State.. . , . . ,.,..,, . . . . , 69 

Criminal action. . . , . . . 46 

Cruel punishments ..,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,,,,,..,.., ,.,.,,, 12 

D 

Day s labor, number of hours .., , , , , , . , -7 . . ,,,,.....,,,. 88 

Deaf and dumb, care of „ . , . ." , , , , . 76 

Debt, no imprisonment for ...,,,., . . . . . . . . 18 

Delegate to Congress. ........ ........ , 23 

District attorneys., , . . . , .... 52 

*• u office of abolished. ......... .. .55 

Courts , . : ....... 52 

** " change from Territory to State,, , 115 

*« Clerk of, , 54 

"" ** jurisdiction of ...... . . , . 56 

** Judges, vacancy in office of . . , . . , , . .,,,,.,.. 56 

"" ** see Judges District Court 



Educational funds to be loaned . . , . .. . . . . . . . . , , 76 

Election, general. . .. , 23 

w upon admission as a State., . . ...... *,.,,,„,, Ill 

by ballot , .,,..,. .60 

Electors, qualifications of ................... ., . .'61. 62 

" residence . . . , 62, 97 

Emergency clause 27, 31. 106 

Eminent domain.., . , 18, 82 

Enacting clause . . „ . , ....... 22 

Equality, , . „ . . . . . . . . 7 

Equalization, Board of .. . . . 67 

Equity , . , , , ,,.,,,,,, 46 

Established religion mm .......................... 10 

Escheats 72 

Examiners, Board of , , .. , . . . . 44 

Excessive bail , 12 

Executive Officers, how elected. 33 

M * qualifications of ......... , 34 

* l power vested in Governor . 35 

Ex post facto law ....... .. , 19 

Extra session of Legislature „ ..,,.., , . , 31 

F 

Fees of county officers.. .,.,,...,...,.... .. . ...,.. = ...„ ,,,... 100 

Felonies, what are 13 

Fictitious or feigned actions 47 

Fiscal year .., . ....... .. ... 62 



122 

Flags 91 

Franchises 85, 92 

Funds, school 71 

" to be loaned. 76 

G 

Gambling prohibited 30 

General laws 30 

Governor, commander in chief 34 

" executive power vested in . 35 

" may call for aid to suppress insurrection 91 

may convene Legislature 38 

" may require information , 38 

" may veto items of a bill 41 

" nominates and appoints officers, what 36 

'* of State to convene Legislature. 113 

" of Territory to call election Ill 

" qualifications of 34 

" salary of 45 

" vacancy in office of 41 

" veto power 39 

H 

Habeas corpus defined 11 

" " privilege suspended 12 

I 

Idaho, meaning of name , 96 

" admission of Ill 

" boundaries of . 96 

" inseparable part of the U. S 9, 117 

Immunities. 9 

Impeachment, civil officers only 47 

" conviction a political punishment 37 

" court for trial of 47 

Imprisonment for debt . 18 

Indebtedness limit of 68, 69 

Indian lands 116 

Indictment 13 

Information, what 14 

Injunction , 51 

Insane Asylum 76 

J 

Jeopardy, twice . , 16 

Joint Resolutions 31 

Journal of Legislature . 26 



123 

Judge, District , 52 

" " qualifications 58 

" '' residence of 52 

" salary of 54 

" " to make report 59 

" 4i traveling expenses 54 

Judges Supreme Court, salaries of 54 

" " " traveling expenses 54 

Judicial districts 52, 58 

" power, where vested 47 

Jurisdiction of District Court 56 

" of Justice Courts, t 57 

" of Probate Courts 57 

" of Supreme Court. . 51 

Jury, kinds of 13 

" trial 12 

L 

Labor, Bureau of 87 

Land Commissioners, Board of 73 

Lands of U. S. not taxed . 116 

" school 74 

" University 75 

" public 116 

Law defined 46 

%< due process of 17 

Laws, how amended 29 

" how passed , 27 

" relating to courts 59 

" retroactive 83 

" special forbidden 29 

" what are 30 

Legislative department 21, 33 

" apportionment 104 

Legislature, adjournment of 25 

" apportionment of 23 

" bills originate in either house of 26 

" compensation of members , 32 

" first session of 113 

ik judge of election 24 

" may expel a member 26 

" members not civil officers 47 

" mileage of members 32 

u most sovereign power 53 

" oath of members 32 

" officers of 24 

*' open session 26 

" sessions of, when , 24 

il privileges of members. . ... 24 



124 

Legislature, special sessions of 38 

Lewiston Normal School 76 

Liabilities of Territory assumed by State 116 

Libel, 15 

Liberty, defined . . 7 

Liberty of speech 14 

Liens, laborers' and mechanics' 89 

Lieutenant Governor, compensation of 45 

" " does not preside when 49 

" '* no vote except when. *. 42 

President of Senate 41 

" " qualifications. ..;..... 33 

" " when governed . 41 

" " vacancy in office of 41 

Live stock , , , 95 

Lotteries prohibited 30 

M 

Mandamus, writ of. . 51 

Martial law, who declares . . 14 

Mechanics' liens 89 

Mileage of members of Legislature ........... 32 

Military forces, what * ; 35 

" subordinate ...... 15 

tactics 90 

Militia officers 90 

" scruples against bearing arms .... ..... 90 

Misdemeanors, what are 13 

Money, how drawn from treasury . 67 

Monopolies prohibited . , 86 

Morality promoted 32 

N 

National Guard. . . . , 90 

Normal Schools. 76 

o 

Oath, defined ............... ................ 10 

" of members of Legislature 32 

" of officers. 113 

Officers, county. „ .. 98 

" of Legislature 24 

when qualified „ 113 

Ordinance 117 



Pardons, Board of . 30 

defined 37 



125 

Pass, no mileage when traveling on . . . , 32 

Penitentiary, labor of convicts in 88 

Petition* right to. . > 15 

Police force not to be sent into State . .. . . 91 

Political power. >....-. 8 

Polygamy defined , . ' . 11 

Preamble . 5 

Precincts, voting ............ .... 61 

Preliminary examination , 14 

President of Senate, vote when . . , 31 

" pro tempore of Senate 42 

Prison Commissioners^ Board of , . . . . , 44, 77 

Privileges may be repealed 8 

" of members of Legislature , 24 

Probate Courts, Juries diction of , . . 57 

" " on change from Territory to State. . , 115 

Probate Judges, see County Officers, 

Profit on public money . . 66 

Prohibition, writ of 51 

Property, defined 64 

" exempt from taxation. 64 

of Territory . 77 

" of United States not taxed 116 

" qualifications of voters 20 

Prosecuting Attornev, see County Attorney. 

Public lands . . . . . 116 

* use 18, 91 

Q 

Qualifications of voters. . . * 20 

Quartering soldier 16 

Quorum ...... 25 

R 

Railroads, public highways 80 

'* in cities and towns . 83 

tleading of bills 27 

Redemption fund 67 

Regents, Board of 75 

Registrars and registration 61 

Religious freedom 9 

" qualifications 73 

" toleration . , . . . . — 116 

Representative districts 23 

Representatives, compensation of .31, 113 

w House of, power of impeachment , 48 

how chosen 22 

** number of.. 22 



126 

Representatives, qualifications of , ; ......:,. ; .... ; ; 23 

Residence not gained or lost . . . . . 62 

Resolutions not laws. ........... t ... t .... t ... t 27 

Retroactive laws ', . > , . . , « . 83 

Revenue , . -, ....... 63 

Rights ....... > 8 

«* not all enumerated 21 

s 

Salaries of executive officers. ... ....;,...,,..,,.,,,.,, ........ 45 

" see County Officers* 

of State officers ..... 59 

School, common ........ ................. 70 

fund . ... .,.,,,.71, 72 

lands . 74 

Seal of courts 115 

" of State.. . . . . , . . 43 

Search warrant .......................;...... 20 

Seat of government . 77 

Senate, number of members. . , 22 

" president of . . 41 

Senatorial districts 23 

Senators, compensation of ........................... . 31 

" how chosen 22 

" qualifications of ................................... . 23 

United States. ....... ... 113- 

Sessions of Legislature 24 

Sheriff, see County Officers. 

Shoshone County insurrection, 91 

Sinking fund. 69 

Slander 15 

Speaker of House a vote 31 

Special laws, what are 30 

" Legislation forbidden 29 

" session of Legislature. 38 

State church. 72 

" defined 6 

44 rights 9 

•' powers of 6 

44 Secretary of, qualifications 34 

44 salary . 45 

44 Superintendent. .,..,.... , , 71 

Statistics, Bureau of . . 87 

Stock, live , . . 95 

44 and Shares, see Corporations. 

" " 44 fictitious. ... 82 

44 " " when issued 82 

Stockholders, counties not to become 70 

Stockholder, State not to become 69 



127 

Subject of an Act expressed in title , . . 28 

Subpoena . v 16 

Suffrage, see Elections and Electors. 

Superintendent of Public Instruction , . . 34 

" salary of 45 

" see County Officers. 

Supreme Court , 49 

" Clerk of 53 

*' ** jurisdiction of ,.'... 51 

u " Judges of ineligible to other office 50 

" " salary of Judges 54 

w " terms of . ,...,... 50 

" " change from Territory to State 115 

" vacancy in. 56 

Supreme law 9, 117 

Surveyor, see County Officers. 

Suspension of three readings . , 27 



Tacking prevented. .,,.,,..,.... ...... 28 

Tax 63 

" Collector, see Assessor, 

* imposed by County Commissioners , . . . 65 

" lien on property, 65 

'" property exempt from 64 

" rate of , 65 

w uniform 64 

Taxation of non-residents , . . 116 

Telegraph and telephone companies ....... , , . . , 84 

Temperance promoted 32 

Terms uf office of executive officers , . 33 

Tie vote, how determined 112 

Tithes, defined , 10 

Title must express subject 28 

Township -governments.- , 98 

Treason, conviction of no corruption of blood 49 

defined. 48 

" pardoned by Legislature ,........,, 37 

Treasurer, qualifications of 34 

" salary of 45 

" see County Officers. 

Trial by jury.... , 12 

" public, ..,.,....,.....,.. 16 

u 

United States Senators 114 

University of Idaho, 75, 76 






Vacancies, how tilled.. \ '. , , ,..,,...,.. SS 

M in Board of County Commissioners 102 

Vacancy in office of Governor .■ . . . , . , 41 

'* M " " Lieutenant Governor. , ,< ,.,,.,,,.,,.. . 41 

* " ** M County Attorney , 56 

•* " Supreme or District Courts , 56 

m *< p r Qbate or Justice Courts. .,.,.,...,.. 56 

Veto power of Governor, , .' .. 39 

Villages, incorporated ................. 86 

Volunteer companies. ............ , ,<*...,. .* 35 

Voters, see Electors. 

Voting precincts .................... ......... ^ ........,.-,.. ^ .... . 61 

w 

Warrant ... ........ ...... . .. . ....,.,, ..,.,,,.... 67 

u of arrest , 14 

Waters, appropriated, . . . . . 91 

" exclusive dedication to first use ............. ,^ . 9.3 

" order of priority , , -, , 93 

" price fixed by District Court , ....... .92, 9& 

" right to collect rent a franchise ........... 92 

'* to be apportioned equitably. . . , . . . 94 

" unappropriated may be diverted .• ,..,.,, 92 

Witnesses , 16 

Worded plainly. .............................. 28 

Writ of certiorari ,..,.,,... 51 

" defined. - . . .. .................... , 11 

•* of habeas corpus ...... 11 

" '* mandamus ... 51 

* ** prohibition , , , . . ■. , 51 



Year, fiscal ................ ...,-..>....,..,.....■.,...■.. 62 



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I89B 



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